In Between
by VictoriaGrant
Summary: A series of missing scenes from season one, all evolving around Wash and Taylor but with appearances from other characters, too.
1. Chapter 1

Title: In Between

Pairing: /Commander Taylor

Spoilers: Genesis

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Just playing, I will give them back- if anyone still wants them... ;)

Summery: Since there wasn´t enough of Wash in the season premiere, I have thought about some scenarios that might have prevented her from being in on all the fun :)

They stopped briefly at a clearing, letting the pilgrims catch their breath and Guzman followed Wash over to the waiting rover, stopping at the driver´s side.

"You´re going to be ok without me, Guz?"

"Sure, Wash, you go ahead, calm him down for us."

Guzman winced when Wash´s elbow collided with his ribs, muttering under his breath while rubbing the tender spot.

"That´s for sassing your OC" she told him, not at all sorry and Guzman looked at her darkly.

"Meaning you or Taylor?"

"Both- now try and don´t get eaten, see you in a few."

She climbed into the vehicle and drove off, tearing through the jungle and out into the open towards the colony´s gates.

She relinquished her gun to one of the guards, then she proceeded up the stairs towards the command center, finding that Taylor was pacing his office, his face unimpressive and Alicia stood to attention, waiting until her OC turned towards her.

"Report, Lieutenant" he barked, eyes flashing and even though Wash knew him too well to take his frustration personally, she felt annoyed at being addressed in that way.

"Dr. Shannon arrived with her children, turned out there are three instead of just two and then there´s the husband who actually is meant to be in a prison cell back in 2148 right now."

"Did he give you any trouble?"

Taylor asked, his tone calmer now and Wash shook her head, following her OC over to one of the windows overlooking the gates.

"Not exactly, overprotective of his family but I suppose that is to be expected."

"Personally I don´t give a damn how many kids people decide to have, what I want to know is if he´s of any use to us."

Taylor growled, watching the long line of pilgrims approach the gates.

"What are you going to do if it turns out he isn´t, turn him out?"

Wash asked, not really knowing what answer to expect.

In the seven years since Taylor and his unit had arrived through the portal, no one had managed to force their way through without permission.

"All in good time, Wash, I´ll see how it goes when we´re there."

"Very good, Sir- do you want me down by the gate?"

"No, stay here, I want you here when I talk to the Shannon´s, it´ll be easier for the Doc with a woman present."

"Sir?"

Wash asked, eyebrows raised when she looked at the commander.

Taylor looked amused at her irritation and nodded, his hand landing on her shoulder.

"Yes- you are a woman, aren´t you, Wash?"

She stiffened, not at all amused by his teasing.

"You know that´s not what I meant, Sir."

She told him, trying to keep her tone respectful, not to let her anger show, she hated it when he got this way with her, especially since she couldn´t confront him about it.

"Then explain yourself, Lieutenant and make it quick."

"Permission to remain silent, Sir" Alicia shot back, walking towards the wall next to the door and Taylor shrugged, now grinning openly at her.

"Never thought I´d hear that one from you, Wash- permission granted. Tell Guzman I want to see the Shannon´s up here, without the kids."

"Yes, Sir."

He opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony and while he gave his usual welcome speech to the new citizens of Terra Nova, Wash leaned against the wall, taking deep, steady breaths.

She hated herself for reacting so irrationally, he had been right, she was a woman and it might be easier for with her present, a room full of armored men could be intimidating, especially after stepping through the portal.

If she was really brutally honest with herself, what was really annoying her was that the only occasion Taylor seemed to notice that she was in fact a woman, was when he could use it for his purposes, on other occasions she was simply his Lieutenant, one of his guys and she was so sick of it it made her want to scream.

She had known coming here with him had been a risk, her feelings for her OC had already been far from platonic before she had agreed to join him in the new world and during the last seven years they had deepened and now she could hardly deal with them anymore.

She wanted him so much it was eating her up inside and all she could do was try and remain as professional as possible in his presence and his constant teasing and pushing wasn´t making it any easier.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts Wash took her radio set.

"Washington to Guzman, are you copying?"

"Copying that, Wash, what do you need?"

"The commander wants to see the Shannon´s up here, the children can wait for them outside."

"Will see to it, Guzman out."

Wash stood up straight again when Taylor came back into the room, looking more relaxed than before.

"The Shannon´s should be up shortly, Sir."

She informed him, watching as he settled himself behind his desk and reached for his data pad, when the Shannon´s entered he was reading the doctor´s accomplishments aloud and Wash felt for the couple who looked intimidated, just like Taylor had been hoping to archive with his little staging.

He send Wash off with Elisabeth Shannon and she went rather reluctantly, irritated once more when Taylor kept Guzman with him instead of her and the mere thought made her want to ram her head into a wall, if she was going to spend the rest of her service under Taylor getting upset at every order he gave her, she´d need to look for another career and fast.

"Do you think we are in real trouble?"

The other woman asked, her voice timid and Wash forced herself to smile briefly.

"Don´t worry too much, Taylor´s tough but he is all about second chances."

The doctor smiled nervously.

"Ok- I´ll try to be positive, that´s what it´s all about after all."

Wash showed Elisabeth Shannon to her children, then beckoned Mark Reynolds over to them.

"Reynolds, wait for the husband and show them over to their housing unit, I have to go back."

"Yes, Ma´am" the young man saluted and Wash smiled, clapping him on the shoulder before making her way back up towards the steps and into the commando center.

Jim Shannon passed her on the stairs, looking relieved and Wash supposed that meant that Shannon wouldn´t camp outside the gate any time soon.

"Hey, Wash" the commander greeted her, smiling and beckoning her over to the window again.

"Makes you proud, doesn´t it?"

He asked, looking down at the still bustling square.

"Yes, Sir."

He turned towards her and Wash felt her skin tingle under his intense gaze.

"You look tired, Lieutenant, when was the last time you took a break?"

"Havn´t had one today, Sir."

"Well, we can´t have that, can we, go and get some rest, I´ll be ok here with Guzman."

"If you say so, Sir."

She nodded at him and left, ignoring Guzman who looked concerned at the sight of her and made her way towards the market where she met Mark Reynolds.

"Have you seen her?"

He asked, sounding uncharacteristically dreamy as he fell into step next to her.

"Whom exactly are you referring to?"

"The girl- Maddy- she´s beautiful" the young private added, smiling and Wash rolled her eyes, nudging him.

"Come on, Reynolds, get it together, you´re sounding like an idiot."

The boy blushed and Wash almost felt guilty, it wasn´t Mark´s fault that her own romantic interest turned out to be immune to her.

"Fine, tell me about it."

He started describing the girl in detail, blissfully unaware that Wash wasn´t really listening to him and she managed to loose him eventually and made her back towards her own house.

_Wash was startled out of her sleep by her radio set._

_"Guzman to Washington."_

_"Copying, what´s up?"_

_"Carter tried to execute Taylor, I need you in the brig, Taylor has gone OTG with Shannon."_

_Cursing under her breath, Wash hurried to get dressed and all but ran towards the brig._

_Guzman was waiting for her, arms crossed as he nodded towards the Sixer leaning against the fence, grinning at them._

_"What´s Taylor doing OTG with Shannon, why didn´t he take anyone else?"_

_She hissed at her colleague, her temper getting the better of her._

_"Don´t shoot the messenger, Wash, Shannon saved his life, he saw Carter before we did."_

_"It´s not that I´m not grateful for that and all but-"_

_"Easy, Wash, just try and find out what Mira is playing at, he´s not talking."_

_Alicia turned turned towards Carter, trying to stay calm, she had felt on edge all day and she knew that if she let her temper reign, there might not be anything left of Carter to question after she was through with him._

_She handed Guzman her gun and combat west before stepping inside the brig._

_"Why now?"_

_She asked, walking towards their prisoner with measured steps._

_"Lieutenant, how nice to see you" the man drawled, his eyes sweeping down her body and up again in an unmistakable fashion and Wash felt the hairs on her neck stand up, anger kicking in fast._

_One quick punch broke Carter´s nose, blood running down his face as he howled in pain._

_"Talk" Alicia snarled, her hand at the man´s throat, pressing his head back into the fence as he started to choke, desperately trying to push her away from him._

_"If Mira hears-" he gasped and Alicia tensed, she hated the leader of the Sixers with a passion and Mira despised her more than anyone in Terra Nova, including Taylor._

_Carter grunted when Wash´s knee collided with his gut and he fell to his knees, screaming when she kicked him in the ribs._

_Wash felt a hand on her arm and looked up to see the tension in Guzman´s face._

_"I think that´s enough for now, Wash" he told her and she nodded, breathing heavily, glad that Guzman had stopped her before she killed the Sixer, knowing Taylor he wouldn´t have approved of her method of vending._

_With one last look at Carter, who was still on the ground, clutching his stomach, she strode out of the brig, Guzman following her._

_"Get a doctor in here, make sure he´s not dying" she pressed through gritted teeth, taking her gun back from her colleague before walking off in direction of the command center._

Wash had just finished with Taylor´s leftover paperwork when Guzman radioed her to inform her that the Sixers were on their way towards the gates and that Taylor was right behind them, having trouble with some Carnos chasing after them.

Thinking that today couldn´t be over fast enough, Wash told Guzman to make sure everyone was inside the gates before she threw her combat gear back on and reached for her gun, the commotion outside getting louder by the second.

She tore down the steps, just as the Sixers skidded to a halt inside the gates while Taylor was playing tag with a highly irritated Carnosaurus and was almost outside the fence when Guzman caught her arm.

"Stay here, Wash, Shannon is getting him."

She watched the rover making it´s way towards her OC, her eyes narrowing.

"He´d better be all right, or I´ll kill him myself."

Guzman chuckled, then tensed again when the Sixers started to exit their vehicles and Wash nodded for him to cover the opposite side of the gate, the rover came in hot, Taylor jumping down the instant they were inside the perimeter, then turned back to the closing gate and the angry dinosaur.

The relief when the predator turned and retreated was short lived for the Sixers were now aiming at Terra Nova´s security detail and Wash motioned for the units to raise their weapons at their enemies, her eyes narrowing when Mira appeared in the middle of her men.

The rebel leader and Taylor started an unnerving game of baiting each other while tension rose, Wash stepped closer to the commander, she was the best shot on Taylor´s security detail and Mira´s eyes briefly flickered in her direction, the message clear, one wrong move and the the Sixer would be pierced with bullets.

When Taylor ordered them to lower their weapons, Wash did so reluctantly, she didn´t trust Mira and she hated that they were dependent on the Sixers, even if it was just in the way that they controlled the iron mines.

Adrenalin was still pumping through Wash as she watched the commander walking towards her, the Sixers had climbed back into their transports, only Mira remaining outside while they waited for their supplies and Carter to be brought out.

Taylor stepped close, leaning down to her so no one would overhear their conversation.

"I want you to stay by the gate, prevent trouble, with Mira, you never know."

"Yes, Sir."

"Make sure she leaves straight away."

"Yes, Sir."

He turned and walked up the steps to the command center and Wash focused on Mira again who was now leaning against her vehicle, smiling mockingly.

"Still here, Washington? Shouldn´t you be running after him like a good little pet?"

Wash bit her lip, fighting to stay calm but her hands cramped around her gun and it took all her self control not to hit Mira over the head with it.

She wished Taylor had sent her to get Carter and left Guzman by the gate but since she´d already broken Carter´s nose and bruised his ribs while ´interrogating´ him, perhaps it was a good thing that her CO had made her stay behind.

Mira took a step forward, seemingly oblivious to the gun in the lieutenant´s hands, after all Alicia couldn´t shoot her inside the colony now that the commander had made a deal, especially not when the rest of Mira´s men were still surrounding them, armed and within shooting range of civilians.

Alicia instinctively recoiled when Mira stepped so close to her, she could feel her breath against on her face.

"Still can´t get him to screw you, can you?"

Mira teased, she was enjoying this, Wash knew it and still there was nothing she could do about, everyone was watching now, tension thick in the air.

"Shame, you really need a good-"

Mira found herself slammed up against the gate in an instant but before it could get ugly, the commander´s voice was heard over the uproar.

"Washington, up here at once!"

Pushing away from Mira, Alicia gave her one last look that warned the Sixer not to cross her again, then she followed her OC´s orders, making her way up to the command center while everyone stared after her.

She stepped inside, standing to attention and Taylor closed the door before rounding on her.

"I believe I gave you an order, Lieutenant."

His voice was low, controlled but she knew from experience that it only meant that he was so angry he could barely restrain himself.

"You did, Sir."

"Repeat that order."

"Stay by the gate and prevent trouble."

"Exactly- did you follow that order, Lieutenant?"

"No, Sir."

He stepped closer to her, invading her personal space and she felt her heart pounding painfully against her chest, he was intimidating, almost frightening her but she managed to not betray any of her emotions, years of training had taught her how to rain them in.

"And why haven´t you been following my orders?"

"Permission to not answer that, Sir."

"Permission denied- you have five seconds to explain yourself before I have you locked into the brig until tomorrow for disobedience."

Alicia closed her eyes, this was one of the most embarrassing situations she´d ever been in and of course it was once again all Mira´s fault, damn that woman and her foul tongue.

"I´ll take the night in the brig then, Sir" she replied, flinching at the fury that flashed in Taylor´s eyes.

He turned away from her without saying anything else and threw the door open again, stepping outside on the balustrade.

"Reynolds, escort Lieutenant Washington to the brig, lock the gate from the outside and bring her weapons back with you."

"Sir?"

The young man sounded shocked and Alicia felt sorry for him, Mark adored her almost as much as she looked up to Taylor and it was an unfortunate coincidence that he was the one standing guard outside right now.

"You heard me, Private."

The commanders voice left no room for questions and Reynolds entered the room, looking apologetically at Alicia.

"Lieutenant, if you´d follow me, please" he almost choked on the words and she smiled soothingly at him, he was a good kid and it wasn´t his fault.

She walked down the steps behind him, ignoring the commander´s pointed glare as well as Mark´s concerned gaze on her while they made their way over to the brig, to her intense relief Mira and her men had left, if the Sixer had so much as smiled at her she might have killed her after all.

Reynolds left her alone and she was instantly bored, it was only late afternoon and she had no idea how to spend the next twelve hours until Taylor might consider letting her out of there again.

She began to pace, hoping against hope that people would´t notice where she was, she didn´t need the gossip that would certainly start the second word was out that she was in the brig, Taylor wasn´t fond of punishment, he preferred to solve problems and bring things out in the open and she certainly had never been one to defy her CO.

The sun had already set when Wash heard a commotion outside and then the gate opened and Guzman stepped inside, looking tense.

"We need to go OTG, some of the teenage kids have stolen a rover, they are in trouble, he wants you by the gate until we get back."

Guzman headed off towards the waiting vehicles, Taylor was arguing with Shannon and his wife who both seemed to want in on the trip, so probably their son was one of the wayward kids.

Taylor didn´t so much as look at her as she walked towards the gate and then they were gone and Alicia was left in command of the colony once again while her commander was outside, having all the fun, as usual.

Reynolds was waiting at the gate with her weapons and while Wash put on her body armor, he filled her in about the missing teenagers, telling her that Tasha Guzman and Skye were among them, which explained why Guzman had been so short with her when he had told given her the commander´s orders earlier.

Blushing lightly, Mark asked her if it would be ok for him to check on the Shannon girls and she sent him off with a teasing smile, then was left leaning next to the gate with her gun in her hands, waiting for Taylor to come back, hoping that he would, for no matter how much she resented it and how much she wanted to deny it, even to herself, she needed him to come back, furious at her or not.

They were back an hour later, Tasha and two of the boys wounded, the others shaken but otherwise ok and Alicia´s eyes raked over Taylor automatically, checking him for any sign of injuries, relieved when she didn't find any.

"Lieutenant" he addressed her, his eyes cold, "I believe you are supposed to be in the brig."

"Yes, Sir" she responded, her voice flat, she should just have lied to him, made something up Mira had said to her but now it was too late, so she handed her weapons over and walked back inside the brig, hearing the lock click into place behind herself.

_Hours later Wash was sitting with her back against the fence, looking up at the stars, when the gate opened and the commander stepped inside, closing the door behind himself before coming over and sitting down next to her._

_"Skye came to apologize, turns out teenagers haven´t changed much since I`ve been one."_

_He sounded relaxed, amused even and Alicia knew she´s forgiven, at least for now._

_"Want to tell me now, Wash?"_

_He asked conversationally, not in the commanding tone from earlier that day but just out of curiosity and Alicia hesitated, knowing that he wouldn´t let it go until he knew, anyway._

_"She called me your pet" she hissed, not at all surprised when he reached over to pat her shoulder._

_"Now that´s offending, I give you that but not enough to make you slam her into the gate."_

_Wash stared straight ahead, she wouldn´t repeat Mira´s words, consequences be damned._

_Taylor sighed in defeat._

_"Private Jones told me, don´t shoot him, I threatened to transfer him to Outpost 6 permanently."_

_"Perfect" Alicia muttered, this was just what she needed, all she could hope for now was that he would leave without talking about it any further- of course he didn´t._

_"She´s right, you know" he told her and she turned on him, her voice icy._

_"Excuse me, Sir?"_

_"You know what I mean, Wash, you and me, it´s not happening."_

_She bit her lip, desperately trying to restrain herself from saying anything she wold regret later but when he smiled at her in a sympathetic fashion she couldn´t take it any more, she had to get away from him, his pity more than she could endure._

_She got up from the ground, Taylor following suit and then they were standing facing each other, blue burning into hazel- they had been at this point so many times it was like a well rehearsed scene from a play but this time Wash was too wound up to stick to her role, to let Taylor walk away from her as though nothing had happened._

_Her hands curled around his upper arms, nails biting into muscle and then she was pressed up against the fence and he was kissing her, hard, punishing kisses, his hands underneath her shirt, running up her sides, pressing her harder against him._

_She moaned into his mouth, she was feeling lightheaded and when he shoved his leg in between her´s and pressed up against her she shattered, gasping into his mouth and he pulled away from her as though he´d been burned._

_She was trembling, her legs barely holding her up, the intensity between them had left her breathless and in desperate need for more but she already could feel the wall going up again between them, Taylor´s eyes had turned cold and he shook his head, running his hand through his hair in frustration._

_"Not happening, Wash, no way."_

_"Why not?"_

_She hated herself for being so weak, hated that he could reduce her to pleading with him when she knew that there was nothing she cold say to change his mind._

_"You kissed me" she added, unnecessarily and Taylor laughed, a hard, mirthless sound._

_"What can I say? You´re a beautiful woman, you threw yourself at me and I´m just human."_

_She couldn´t believe he was talking to her this way, denying that it was more than just a moment of lust, it was hurting her and at the same time making her furious._

_"I threw myself at you? You just-"_

_"I know what I did, damn it! You´re too young for me, you could be my daughter and you´re my second in command, what makes you think I´d break every rule I´ve set, risk it all, for you?"_

_He was all business again, calm and collected, in control and Alicia knew the moment was over and most likely would not repeat itself._

_"You should go home and sleep, Lieutenant" Taylor added, his tone a bit softer and she knew it was a peace offering, they had to work together in the morning and he needed to know that he could rely on her to put her feelings aside and do her job._

_"Yes, Sir" she replied flatly, walking past him and out of the brig and towards her house for what she was sure wouldn´t be a restful night._


	2. Chapter 2

I´ve decided to just continue here instead of posting sequels, it´ll be much easier to reply to reviews this way- so here´s the first set of missing scenes from Instinct, enjoy :)

**Spoilers: Instinct**

**Pairing: Wash/Taylor**

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer: Not mine...**

* * *

morningsong101, Madi92, metube and CapeCodMakai, thanks so much for the reviews and for enjoying the story, if any of you has any suggestions, either for this story or maybe for one shots, anything you´d like to read, please send me a message and I´ll be happy to try and get creative.

* * *

"Morning, Wash."

She looked up from her data pad, not at all surprised at his cheerful tone, if there was one thing Nathaniel Taylor was good at, it was ignoring elephants in the room.

Deciding to play along, Wash stood to attention and nodded curtly.

"Good morning, Sir."

"So how is the survival class coming along?"

"Hopeless, like always and I´d really prefer not to eat bugs every time I teach a class."

"Come on, Wash, you´ve called everyone hopeless ever since you´ve started teaching those classes- and don´t say anything about the bugs, they helped me survive when I first got here and ran out of supplies after a few days."

"Happy to let you demonstrate the bug eating in the future, Sir" Alicia replied smoothly before looking back down onto her data pad.

"They´ve started painting the houses for the 10th today, most people have been supplied with the necessary equipment already, Guzman´s unit is seeing to the rest right now."

"Good, they can help out a bit, too, seems to be a quiet day."

"Bet they´ll love that, Sir."

Taylor settled himself behind his desk and reached for his own data pad, then motioned her over and held it out to her.

"Supplies haven´t arrived at Outpost 3 so far, if we haven´t heard from them by nightfall, we´ll go out there first thing tomorrow."

"We meaning who, Sir?"

"We meaning Me and Shannon and some backup."

Wash sighed, nodding, sometimes she hated to be second in command, she wasn´t cut out for sitting at home and waiting.

Taylor caught the expression on her face and smiled, shaking his head.

"You´re not happy with that, are you- I´m keeping you scooped up for too long, tell you what, Wash- take a rover and go OTG for a while."

She just looked at him for a moment, trying to detect the agenda in his offer, he wasn't exactly known for his generosity when it came to bestowing free time on his units and she wanted to know why he was doing it now.

"I don´t understand, Sir, do you need me to check on anything?"

"No but since nothing pressing is going on here and you´ve finished with all the paperwork while I was getting the kids back inside the other day, you could just relax a little."

Now she understood what he was doing and it didn´t do anything to relax her.

"Thank you, Sir but I don´t believe in wasting my time with pointless outings, I´ll go and see if I can interest my unit in a little extra combat training, if you need anything, I´ll be in the barracks."

Taylor shrugged, immersed in his data pad.

"Sure, Wash- have fun, then."

"Thank you, Sir" she replied coldly, turning on her heel and leaving the office before taking a deep breath.

He was trying to get rid of her and she could understand where he was coming from, the tension between them was becoming unbearable and she had to find a way to deal with it, she didn´t want to loose her position over their differences, she had worked hard and risked everything to get where she was now.

She found Mark Reynolds where she had left him, leaning against the railing of the steps leading up to the command center.

"That was quick" he commentated, falling into step next to her.

"He told me to go OTG and have some fun" Wash huffed, not at all amused when Mark snorted.

"Trouble in paradise?"

He teased, hastily stepping aside to avoid her elbows colliding with his ribs.

"Why is everyone hell bound to believe that I´m screwing Taylor?"

Wash asked angrily, her hands balling into fists at her sides, the rumors were bad enough as it was but even more so since they were´t even true.

"I´m sorry" Reynolds offered, still sounding amused.

"No, you are not but you will be" she threatened and the young private paled visibly.

"Ma´am?"

"Combat training in ten, tell the others to hurry" Alicia growled before striding towards the barracks, leavening Reynolds to stare after her in horror.

Her unit arrived on time, no one was looking especially happy at the prospect of an extra training session with their CO, especially not when she was looking furious and in need to beat someone up.

Wash stepped onto the mats, looking expectantly at her recruits who all avoided to meet her eyes and finally Wash lost her patience.

"I´m counting to three, I want three people on the mat by then."

Reynolds was the first to step forward, probably thinking that it was partly his fault for making her even angrier than she had been to begin with, Henderson and Johns following, looking as though they were acting against their better knowledge.

"Fun" Wash smiled sarcastically, pushing her sleeves back from her forearms.

"Let´s play, boys."

_Alicia stretched, allowing the hot water to relax her aching muscles but despite the pain she was feeling much better than two hours ago._

_Her recruits hadn´t enjoyed themselves as much, she had been a little too motivated, taking them on three at a time, not holding back and emerging without having been beaten once, not that anyone had doubted that to begin with._

_Thinking that she should probably stop wasting hot water, Wash stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself into a towel before starting to comb her wet hair, looking up when a knock sounded at the door._

_"Wash, you in there?"_

_Taylor´s voice sounded impatient and Alicia rolled her eyes, typical, first he wanted to get rid of her, then he couldn´t do without her._

_She pulled the door opened, instinctively reaching up to check that her towel was securely fastened._

_"I´m a little indisposed at the moment, Sir, can it wait until I´m dressed."_

_One look at his face told her that he wasn´t listening to her, his eyes trailing down her body and up again, his gaze hungry and Alicia almost smiled, for a man who claimed not to be interested, he certainly was easy to manipulate by a little bit of naked skin._

_"Sir?"_

_She asked, her amusement now audible in her voice and Taylor´s eyes snapped back up to her face, the intense blue much darker than usual, his expression unreadable._

_"If I didn´t know better, I´d say you are doing this on purpose" he told her, stepping closer to her, their bodies almost touching as he braced his hands against the doorframe on both sides of her._

_"But since you couldn´t possibly know that I would be coming here, I´ll just put it down to abysmal timing on my part."_

_"Careful, Sir, I might take offense" she told him playfully, glad that they were back to their usual light bantering._

_"No need, Wash, no need" he sighed, once again looking her upside down in a manner that was far from appropriate in a professional relationship as he claimed their´s to be._

_"Was there anything you needed, Sir?"_

_She asked innocently, batting her eyelashes and Taylor groaned, his hands clenching around the sturdy wood._

_"Get dressed, Lieutenant" he pressed through gritted teeth, very obviously fighting for control._

_"Permission to close the door first, Sir?"_

_Alicia smiled, biting her lip to hold back her laughter, she had rarely seen her CO so desperate._

_"Close the damn door, now!"_

_She obeyed, shutting the door in his face, then she leaned against it for a moment, her imagination running wild as she wondered what might have happened if she had just dropped the towel, then she walked over to her clothes and got dressed hastily, pulled her hair up into a ponytail and opened the door, not at all surprised when she found the commander pacing up and down the corridor._

_He lead the way without looking at her, back towards the command center and Wash followed him, trying to analyze the situation._

_She was fairly certain that she could have seduced him back at the barracks, then again he would have regretted it the moment it was over and probably closed himself off completely and Wash didn´t think that one heated sexual encounter was worth loosing their friendship, if something was going to happen, then she needed him to want all of her, a relationship their friendship could coexist with, loosing him simply wasn´t an option._

_Guzman was waiting for them at command, looking at the security screens._

_"Commander" he greeted, looking up, then he smiled at the sight of her._

_"Hey, Wash, haven´t seen you today."_

_"I was at the barracks, my unit needed a little extra training."_

_"Anyone still standing?"_

_Guzman joked and Wash shrugged._

_"Me" she finally stated, making both Guzman and Taylor chuckle._

_"Knew there had to be a valid reason you are second in command" Guzman muttered, yelping when Alicia hit him over the head._

_"Break it up there, kids, we have work to do" their CO interrupted, not sounding as amused as he usual did while watching them bantering._

_Not dwelling on that observation, Wash sat down next to Guzman, looking at the screens._

_"What do we have?"_

_"Outpost 3, the supplies still haven´t arrived, we need to get someone out there tomorrow."_

_Wash glanced at Guzman, frowning at the hopeful look on his face and shrugging._

_"I´ve been put in charge already, you can go play if you want to."_

_Guzman grinned, checking the screens with renewed energy while Wash got up again and walked over to Taylor´s desk._

_"I´ll go and put the team together, anyone specific you want to take?"_

_"Just Shannon" Taylor replied, then added "keep an eye on Malcom, he´ll be back tomorrow and I don´t want him to harass the poor Doc too much, especially not with her husband away."_

_"He´ll be heartbroken" Wash mused, thinking about their chief science officer who hadn´t talked about anything but Elizabeth Shannon for weeks, having requested her to be recruited specifically and Alicia had a nagging suspicion that the man hadn´t planned on her turning up with her husband in tow._

_Taylor shrugged._

_"I won´t mind a bit, making a play for a married woman, husband there or not, isn´t anything I´d tolerate, anyway."_

_His voice had gotten colder, his sense of honor dictating his words and Wash hoped that Malcom wouldn´t anything stupid, like trying to break up the Shannons in plain sight of the commander._

_Aloud she said "I´ll try and give him a hint, Sir."_

_"Not a hint, Wash, the man doesn´t get subtlety, just make it blunt."_

_"If you say so, Sir- I´ll go and arrange everything, see you for evening patrol?"_

_"Meet you down by the gate at 1800."_

It hadn´t been hard to put a team together, after the workout session she had given her own unit that morning, everyone jumped at the opportunity to get out of the colony for a day, afraid that she might go on to plan extra hand combat training for everyone else.

After she had finished with her preparations, Wash made her way over to the newly painted housing units, looking for Jim Shannon but when she found him with his family outside their house, still having fun with the paint and looking utterly relaxed she decided that the next morning would be early enough to inform them of the trip after all.

"Hey, Wash" Shonnon greeted her, pointing at the house, "how do you like it?"

"It´s yellow" the lieutenant observed, shrugging.

She wasn´t a fan of colorful houses, much preferring the wood in it´s natural state but most families liked the extra paint, especially those with children.

Shannon looked back at the house for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose it is, isn´t it- what about your´s?"

"The officer´s houses are right besides the barracks, helps with controlling our units and no one actually made the effort to paint their´s."

"What, no bright pink for you?"

Wash rolled her eyes.

"Look, Shannon, I hate to break it to you but you aren´t funny, never were, never will be, so just do me a favor and give it a break."

His smile brightened, for some unknown, unfair reason he reveled in annoying her.

"I have a gun" she threatened, glaring at him.

"I have one, too" he shot back, patting his holster for emphasis.

"Mine is bigger" Wash told him, her finger trailing over the trigger of the rifle hanging at her side and Jim held his hands up in defeat.

"Low and dirty, Wash, I really expected better of a lady."

"If you call me a lady one more time, I will hurt you, Shannon. Now get inside and help your wife with the cooking, make yourself useful."

"Point taken, you clearly are much more threatening than me."

"You bet your ass, I am- see you tomorrow, Shannon."

"Night, Wash."

He winked at her, waving when she started to walk off in direction of the gate.

Taylor was already waiting for her, leaning against a watchtower.

"You´re late, Lieutenant."

"I was busy getting my daily dose of annoying cop, Sir" Alicia replied smoothly, making Taylor grin as they began to walk along the perimeter.

"Came out on top?"

"Sure did, Sir."

"Good girl" he joked, laughing when she glared at him.

They made their usual round, talking with the soldiers standing guard on the various spots along the fence, the members of Alicia´s unit wincing at the sight of her.

"They can hardly stand up straight, Lieutenant, if you insist on roughening them up so bad, you should choose a day when they don´t have to do night duty" the commander observed, turning back to see Reynolds lean heavily against the gate for support.

"It´s good for them, they´re going soft on me."

They had reached the gate again and Taylor leaned on one of the thick wooden bars, looking out at the dark jungle beyond the plane.

"We´ll go out at 0700, should be back before nightfall, if you´re here at 0600, I´ll brief you before we head out."

"I´ll be there, Sir."

He turned towards her, studying her for a moment, then his expression softened and he smiled.

"Goodnight, Wash."

"Goodnight, Sir."

She could feel his eyes on her as she walked away from him


	3. Chapter 3

MissCallaLily, morningsong101, mikaela prime, proud to be imperfect and Madi92, thank you very, very much for replying, it really means a lot.

I actually like both Guzman and Reynolds a lot and I`m glad you guys like the interaction between them and Wash- well, Taylor´s not a really nice man, isn´t he (gotta love him anyway, what can I say...) but he´ll wise up eventually.

I´m actually quite hopeful that if TN was actually being picked up for a second season the producers might have had a look at everything that´s going on on the web and decide to bring Wash back in, it´s been done with supposedly dead characters before after all and as long as there´s no second season, in my universe Wash will be alive- here´s the next chapter, enjoy, everyone.

* * *

Taylor sounded amused by her comment about the Sixers while Shannon looked a little green, probably not warning him about the OTG mission he was about to take part in hadn´t been such a good idea after all.

After Taylor had sent Shannon off to get some meds from the infirmary, he walked over to where Wash was checking the supply list on her data pad.

"That should be all, Sir" she informed him, looking over to the rovers.

"All right then, soon as Shannon gets back, we´re moving out."

He clapped her shoulder, smiling at her in that particular way designed to tell her not to worry too much and she smiled back painfully.

"Don´t give me that look, Wash, I´ll be back in time for evening rounds."

"Is that a promise, Sir?"

"If you insist then yes, it´s a promise."

Even though they both knew that such promises were empty ones, Alicia felt better as she watched the commander climb into the rover but a slight unease remained, they

didn´t even know what had caused the delay after all and no idea what the team would encounter.

When the gate had closed once again, Alicia made her way over to the infirmary, looking for Malcom and found him, just as she had expected, in the same room as Elizabeth Shannon who was talking to a patient.

"Hey, Malcom, how did it go?"

"Lieutenant, good to see you- everything went well."

"Great, so, I see you found your friend."

She indicated the doctor and Malcom blushed, looking flustered.

"Uhm, yeah, I did."

"You´ve met her husband, also?"

Malcom looked sideways at her, frowning.

"Is there anything you´d like to tell me, Lieutenant?"

She shrugged, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"You´re a smart guy, you could try to figure it out- or I could give you a message from Taylor."

"Right, ok, I suppose- I´ll remember that."

She turned to leave, her hand briefly squeezing the man´s shoulder.

"Don´t take it too hard."

"Easy for you" he muttered and Wash hesitated for a moment, then realized that she didn´t need to hear another twisted version of her supposed romance with her CO, so she left the infirmary and went back over to the gate, taking her audio set out of her pocket.

"Washington to Taylor."

"Copying, Wash- is everything all right?"

"That´s what I wanted to ask you, Sir."

"We´re fine, Wash, still on our way- stop fussing, you´ll be the first to know if we find anything."

She could tell that he was amused by her behavior but she didn´t really care, she was worried about him, she always was when he was OTG and since he insisted on leaving her behind every time, he´d just have to live with the consequences.

"All right, I´ll keep you to that."

"You do that, Lieutenant- Taylor out."

"What was all that about?"

Alicia turned around and put her hand on her hip, the other still holding the radio set.

"Eavesdropping, Reynolds?"

"No, Ma´am, I just happened to be standing behind you."

"And the difference in that is what exactly?"

"I wasn´t listening on purpose, Ma´am."

Wash couldn´t help but smile as she nudged him in the ribs, her smile widening when he all but doubled over at the contact.

"Come on, it can´t hurt that much, man up, Reynolds."

"Guess you have no idea how much you can hurt people, do you."

He gasped, keeping up with her long strides towards the command center as well as he could.

"Next time don´t let yourself be beaten up."

"I´ll do my best, now what was your conversation with Taylor about, you sounded worried."

"It´s nothing, according to him, I´m always worried."

"Perhaps it´s a female thing" Reynolds offered, the color fading from his face when his CO rounded on him, daring him to continue.

"Sorry" he added hastily, taking a step back.

"Reynolds, you are trying my patience, do yourself a favor and shut up, will you?"

"Yes, Ma´am."

"Good- now go and catch up on some sleep, we don´t know what situation we´re dealing with out there and I want everybody on full alert later- dismissed."

The young man looked exhausted and Taylor had been right, she shouldn´t have been so hard on them when they were on nightshift, tired soldiers weren´t good for anything.

She continued up the steps towards the command center and had just entered the office when her radio went off.

"Taylor to Washington."

"Copying, Sir."

"We´ve found them, all three are dead, some kind of attack, looks like a species we haven´t come across yet."

He sounded shocked, the incident seemed to take it´s toll on the commander, he never had been good at loosing people and Alicia knew from experience that he would find a way to blame himself for the men´s deaths.

She also knew that she couldn´t do anything about it now, she´d have to see if he would let her offer some comfort to him later, for now the best she could do was helping him functioning.

"I´ll tell Malcom to be ready when you get back, how far out are you?"

"We´ll be back in about an hour with the bodies."

"See you in an hour then, Washington out."

Wash hurried out of the office and down the steps again, thinking that she wouldn´t need any more workout today than the damn steps were giving her and made her way back over to the infirmary, resisting the urge to roll her eyes when she found Malcom still staring at Elizabeth Shannon like a love sick puppy.

"Malcom, you´re starting to drool" she informed him briskly, coming to stand next to him.

"Don´t you have anyone else to boss around?"

He complained but instantly fell silent when she turned to him and raised her eyebrows.

"Taylor is on the way back, he has three dead soldiers who were attacked by an unknown species and he doesn´t like it, you can make yourself useful for a change."

"Why is it that no one here takes my work seriously? Everyone would have died from unknown some species in the meantime if it wasn´t for me."

"Yeah, whatever, just be ready when they get back."

Wash left the man to his sulking and went back outside, thinking that she might as well look for something to eat, knowing Taylor she wouldn´t get another break until they had found out exactly how their people had died.

Wash had just finished her breakfast when she was informed via radio that the rovers were in sight of the gate and she hurried over, shouting for the guards to raise the gate.

The commander got out first and came over to her while Shannon organized the transport of the bodies to the infirmary.

"Hey, Wash- everything all right here?"

"Yes, Sir- are you hurt?"

"No wounds to stitch up, if that´s what you mean, the rest I´ll deal with later- I´ll go to the infirmary now, wait for me here."

_Wash was pacing in front of the gate when Taylor came back, his face expressionless as he beckoned her to follow him._

_"Malcom doesn´t know what we´re dealing with, this is starting to look really bad."_

_"What does that mean, Sir?"_

_"I can´t see what we can do about it, looks like we have to sit and wait if that creatures turn up again."_

_"Where are we going?"_

_Alicia asked, realizing that she had followed him across the market place without even noticing._

_He finally looked at her._

_"Since we apparently have some time on our hands, we´re going to have a little chat."_

_Wash stopped dead, looking at him suspiciously._

_"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"_

_"Just keep walking, Lieutenant, I lead, you follow, remember that."_

_He walked on, leaving Wash fuming as she hurried after him._

_"You know, sometimes you can be an ass."_

_For a moment she wondered if she had gone too far but Taylor didn´t seem to mind, instead he simply nodded, looking almost amused._

_"Yeah, I suppose I can be."_

_They had arrived at the barracks and were now walking towards Taylor´s own house that was situated at the end of the row of buildings, next to Wash´s smaller one._

_"It could have been you" he told her quietly, "it should have been you, you were actually scheduled to go out there, I only kept you here in case Mira was out for revenge."_

_Wash looked up at him, torn between hope that he might finally be ready to give in and irritation that he had just openly admitted to sending less qualified soldiers OTG instead of her for fear of the Sixers planning to attack them._

_"You shouldn´t have done this, I would have stood a much better chance against-"_

_"That´s not the point" he interrupted her, walking over to the kitchen unit, leaning against the counter._

_"Do you have an idea what Mira might do to you if she´d get her hands on you?"_

_Alicia closed the door and followed him, she needed a drink if she was to survive this._

_"Well, it wouldn´t exactly be a love feast" she half joked while pouring them both a generous amount of Scotch, "especially not after I smashed Carter´s nose in."_

_Taylor was still looking at her, apparently not impressed by her joke and Alicia pushed the Scotch at him before taking a sip from her´s._

_"Ok, she´d rough me up a little, probably break a few bones, I doubt she´d kill me, if that´s what you are afraid of."_

_"You don´t understand."_

_He took his glass and drowned his drink, then motioned for Wash to sit down on the sofa with him._

_"Thing is, if Mira came to the gate with you as a hostage I´d give her anything she´d want, anything, you get that?"_

_Alicia didn´t answer, there wasn´t anything to say, he had put the card on the table, as had she and now she would have to wait and see if he wanted to play. _

_"This isn´t a game, Wash, I don´t want you to go OTG alone until I´m sure Mira isn´t planning anything rash."_

_"Sir" she protested, "you told me to do just that just yesterday."_

_"I knew you wouldn´t take me up on the offer, you´re too damn disciplined for that."_

_Wash felt herself flaring up, she wasn´t his toy and she wouldn´t let him treat her like one, especially not when he put so much effort into keeping her on arm´s length._

_"What if I had taken you up upon it?"_

_"I´d have taken the offer back" he shrugged, obviously seeing nothing wrong with his course of action and Alicia got up from the couch, her hand itching to reach for her knife._

_"You´ve made your point, Sir, I take it that I´m dismissed."_

_She was upset and as much as she prided herself for her iron control, right now she needed to get away from him or she would be loosing it._

_He looked up at her, his jaw clenching but nodded curtly, gesturing towards the door._

* * *

**_Author´s note: I´ll be changing the rating to M at some point, not really sure yet when it´ll happen, so if you can´t find the story under the normal rated sections anymore, it´ll be due to the changed rating._**


	4. Chapter 4

First things first, morningsong 101, mercscilla and me tube, thanks very much for the reviews.

metube: I´m not writing one chapter per episode anymore, actually this is going to be the third on Instinct and there´ll be at least one more before I move on to What remains.

morningsong101: Thanks- I´ll be exploring a bit of his dark side from now on and of course there´s the interesting question how much Wash knows about his secrets- tension is still high and yeah, I suppose it summons up their relationship and she excepts it in this version, though that doesn't mean she´s always happy with it ;)

mercscilla: Uhm, ok, now I´m blushing ;) Well, actually when I began writing fan fiction, missing scenes were the most common thing to do, it´s gotten a bit out of style lately but I still love them and for TN they work very well.

It´s my favorite scene so far, too, though I also had to laugh about the while shower incident.

Well, you can hit him if you want, just don´t let Wash see, she might hit you back and really hurt you ;) He actually has a few reasons to act like he does, he´ll explain a little of it in What remains, about his wife and what she thought about his relationship with his second, will make for an interesting topic while Wash and Taylor area lone at command before Reynolds and Maddy burst in.

Oh, yeah, revenge, not revenge so much but she might just go out with Guzman for a few drinks after having gotten back in The Runaway- who knows… ;)

* * *

Wash had seriously considered to skip evening patrol but in the end her sense of duty won out over her wounded pride.

The commander was already waiting and she didn´t miss the relieved expression on his face at the sight of her, he obviously had considered that she might not turn up himself.

"Evening, Wash" he greeted her and she forced herself to meet his eyes.

"Evening, Sir- did Malcom find anything?"

"Not yet, he´s still looking but it doesn't look very promising."

They walked in silence for a while, occasionally halting to talk to a civilian or member of their security detail until Taylor stopped in the shadows of a watch tour, half an hour into their patrol.

"We need to talk- again" he told her quietly, glancing up to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation.

"Permission to speak freely, Sir."

"Granted, Lieutenant."

He adapted easily to the professional undertone she had set, looking at her expectantly.

"I don´t think these so called talks of your´s are doing us any good, I can´t do my job when every time I see you I´m half expecting you to wanting to have a personal talk with me."

His hands were buried in the pockets of his leather jacket as he observed her and she knew he was trying to decide whether or not to press the matter, then he nodded slowly.

"I´ll remember that, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Sir."

They continued walking and finally they reached the gate again, both of them automatically stepping closer, looking out towards the dark jungle.

"Sometimes I still can´t believe this is real" Wash admitted, "it might not be paradise but compared to what we left behind it´s pretty damn close."

"We had some good times back there, too, didn´t we, Wash?"

She looked sideways at him, smiling lightly and nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose so, sometimes in between almost dying and almost watching the other die, we did manage to have some good times."

"You miss it, Wash?"

She shook her head.

"No, not really- there are people I miss, friends, comrades…"

Her voice trailed away, they both knew whom she was thinking about, she had been just as shocked when Lucas had betrayed him, betrayed them.

"It wasn´t your fault" he told her, his voice soft but Alicia shook her head.

"I does´t matter, he´s blaming me for being alive when his mother is dead, he told me once that if I still had enough energy left to survive, I would have had enough energy to keep fighting a little longer as well."

He didn´t say anything for a moment, she had never told him about her last conversation with his son before Lucas had turned on his father and Nathaniel had thrown him out of the colony.

"I´m sorry, Wash, you didn´t deserve him telling you that."

She shrugged.

"It doesn´t matter now, he´s hurting and he is trying to find ways to cope."

They were interrupted by Guzman who was walking towards the gate, followed by several members of his unit.

"Evening, Sir, Lieutenant."

Taylor nodded at the other man and Alicia smiled, glad for a change of topic.

"Hey, Guz, taking over the colony?"

"Only the watchtowers- if you don´t like it, you are welcome to do my shift for me, Wash."

"On second thought I think I´ll pass but thanks for the offer- how is Tasha?"

"Better, I took her home earlier, the cuts have healed, it´ll just take some time for the shock to wear off, I hope she´s learned her lesson and doesn´t do it again."

"I´m sure she won´t, she´s a good kid, Guz."

"Cheers, Wash, your maternal instincts coming out?"

"I don´t have those" Wash protested, her hands on her waist as Guzman started to chuckle.

"Come on, you´d have beautiful kids."

"Guzman, shouldn´t you be up on a watchtower" Taylor asked, a slight edge to his voice and Guzman nodded hastily, smiling apologetically at Alicia.

"On my way, Sir- night, Wash."

He began to clim up to the platform while Wash looked at her CO.

"Thanks for the rescue, why is it that every guy around here can´t figure out when to shut up?"

"Spent time with Shannon today?"

He teased her before glancing at his watch.

"We should turn in, we´re on morning patrol."

They made their way towards the barracks and Taylor bid her goodnight before walking on towards his own house while Wash unlocked her front door, looking forward to a few hours of undisturbed sleep.

_Cursing under her breath, Wash hastily threw on her clothes and hurried towards her front door, pulling her wet hair up into her customary ponytail as she went._

_She opened the door just as Jim Shannon raised his hand for another knock._

_"Stop it, I`m here, what´s up?"_

_"Josh and I got attacked by some birds last night, I think it´s the same specimen that attacked the soldiers."_

_"Great, why is it always you who gets into trouble, have you told Taylor yet?"_

_Shannon looked a little flustered._

_"Uhm- no- I figured perhaps you could-"_

_"He´s not here, if that´s what you think and I´m not in the habit of waking him at the crack of dawn for hot steamy morning sex either, you people have to stop listening to every crap you hear around here."_

_She took a deep breath before closing her door behind herself and shooing Shannon away from her front porch._

_"You go get Malcom, I´ll wake the commander, meet me at command in thirty, I won´t have that much time, there´s the funeral right after morning patrol."_

_Not looking back to see if he was following her orders, Wash made her way over to Taylor´s front door and entered the security code, letting herself in._

_She boiled water and was looking for instant coffee when the bedroom door opened and Taylor stepped outside, still in a shirt and sweat pants, his knife loosely in his hand._

_"Morning, Wash, are you cooking me breakfast now?"_

_"You wouldn´t want that, Sir- Shannon and his son got attacked by something last night, he thinks it might be the same species that killed our men- where´s your damn coffee?"_

_"Second shelf on the right- did Shannon wake you up?"_

_"Yeah, for some weird reason he seems to be less afraid of me than of you."_

_"You´re smaller, it´s a common mistake, he´ll learn his lesson eventually."_

_"If you say so, Sir."_

_Wash stirred her coffee, then took a sip, grimacing at the taste._

_"Can´t you store something decent to drink around here, that´s disgusting."_

_"Wakes you up, though- I´ll go take a shower now, might be a good idea for you to go ahead, Shannon could incinerate command by mistake."_

_Still laughing Wash left the house and stepped back out into the cool morning air, the sun had barely risen and it simply was far too early, even with her morning patrol, that wouldn´t start until 0700._

_She found the two men waiting for her at the bottom of the steps and motioned for them to follow her, leading the way up into the office._

_"Make it quick, Shannon, I have to be at the gate in time for patrol."_

_She listened intently to Shannon´s tale, then turned to Malcom who was looking puzzled._

_"You have no idea, have you."_

_"I´m afraid not- I´ll go and check my journals now, perhaps something has slipped my mind but-"_

_"Great, you do that, Shannon, go home and have breakfast, I´ll go and do patrol now, we all meet back here after the funeral."_

_"You´ve forgotten to add ´dismissed´ in the end" Shannon muttered, his eyes twinkling but Wash wasn´t in the mood for his silly jokes right now, it wasn´t even light outside and the day ahead of her seemed endless._

_Shannon yelped when she shoved her elbow into his ribs on the way out, glaring after her._

_"You´re supposed to protect us, not attack us, Wash."_

_"Your own fault, next time just hold your tongue."_

_She hurried down the steps and towards Taylor who was waiting for her by the gate, looking far more awake than she felt._

_"Never leave me alone with Shannon and Malcom in one room ever again" she told him, falling into step next to him._

_Taylor stopped, looking around to make sure no one was near enough to listen to them._

_"You know that´s impossible, I need you there when Shannon does his digging around."_

_"That´s just what I´m worried about, what if he digs too deep, say, underneath a certain tree for example."_

_Taylor´s face remained expressionless._

_"I suppose in that case he might overstep his welcome here, don´t you think, Lieutenant."_

_She hooked her thumbs into the belt loops on her combat trousers, calmly holding his gaze._

_"If you say so, Sir."_

_"Come on, Wash, lighten up, how should he find out?"_

_"Actually all he would have to do is make Boylan talk, I don´t like the odds, letting him run around wherever he wants is a risk you shouldn´t take."_

_"Can´t do much about it right now, he´s useful after all and like you say, Boylan knows and up to know he´s kept his mouth shut."_

_"Yeah, well, he knows we´d bring him down in a second, one footage of him sneaking outside to meet up with Mira and he´s gone from Terra Nova."_

_Taylor´s hands clasped around Alicia´s upper arms, holding her steady._

_"You´ll have to trust me on that one."  
_

_"I do, Sir- I trust you with my life."_

_"Likewise, Lieutenant- now stop thinking about it, we need to bury our comrades and then figure out what to do about those things attacking us."_

_Wash followed her commander as he continued walking along the fence, still thinking about Jim Shannon and his knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time._

_She wasn´t really worried, if the detective would start digging in the wrong places, she would be there to distract him from his findings, feed him false information if she had to, just like Taylor had instructed her when he had first assigned her to work with Shannon._

_There wasn´t much, if anything, Wash wasn´t prepared to do when it came to saving Taylor, might it be his life or his reputation being jeopardized but Shannon had turned out a force to be reckoned with, he had a made friends quickly, he had a family and how could they be sure that the man didn´t share every single detail about his work with his wife._

_What Alicia needed was to find something on Shannon that would motivate him to stay loyal to Taylor but up to now there was nothing that might be used against him if needed._

_The funeral was a sombre affair and Wash was glad when they finally arrived back the the command center where Shannon and Malcom were already waiting for them._

_Hovering by the door, Alicia kept glancing sideways at her CO who was standing by the window, looking tense while the two other men kept bickering._

_Finally Taylor lost his patience and told Malcom to stop theorizing about interaction protocols and tell him how to handle the reptiles who were threatening them before sending Wash out to take precautions and she could hear Malcom beginning to argue as she hurried down the steps._

_Hopefully the man would shut up quickly, Taylor wasn´t exactly in the mood to humor the scientist today._

_Wash told Reynolds and Guzman to take a rover each and get everyone inside the colony´s gates before reporting back to Taylor._

_"Everybody should be inside the gates within an hour, Sir."_

_"Good- Shannon just found out about Malcom recruiting his wife, keep an eye on them, I don´t want them fighting, we might need them both before the day is over."_

_Wash bit her lip, Malcom´s idiocy amused her to no end, the man kept his own personal record when it came to getting into tight spots though Shannon was probably up to give him a run for his money._

_"We need to send another convoy out to Outpost 3, Sir, they are still waiting for supplies."_

_Taylor leaned back in his chair, arms crossed._

_"I know, question is how are we going to do it without knowing what we´re up against."_

_"I´m sure with the proper equipment we would be able to-"_

_"Forget it, Wash" Taylor interrupted her, "you´re not going out there, no way."_

_Wash tried to keep her frustration under control, he usually was a sensible man and there had to be a way to get through to him._

_"Sir, I´m by far the most qualified person for the job, especially if we actually were to come under attack, you can´t keep sending people out there who-"_

_"Stop it right there, Lieutenant, you don´t get to tell me what I can or can´t do, that´s for me to decide and for you to carry out."_

_Alicia stood up straighter, unwilling to let her irritation show._

_"Yes, Sir."_

_They were interrupted by the sound of rushing wings and animals screeching, people started to scream and both of them ran down the steps and towards the market where chaos was reigning._

_After the birdlike creatures had disappeared again, Taylor sent Wash to the infirmary where she waited for Elizabeth Shannon who informed her that thirty six people were wounded but would all make a full recovery._

_Satisfied that for now nothing worse had happened, she made her way back over to the market place where Taylor was talking to Skye and Josh Shannon, Jim Shannon close by, looking worried._

_Taylor asked her to update the watchtowers and Alicia went over to the gates where she found Mark Reynolds on duty, she briefed him quickly, then headed back to help with the wounded._

_"Hey, Wash" the commander beckoned her over, "Malcom thinks that things are about to get rough, let´s go up to command, see if we can find anything."_

_Shannon followed them back up towards the office in silence, for once not trying to lighten the atmosphere with his usual silly jokes._

_Malcom met them at the bottom of the steps, looking worried and after they had seen the mass of birdlike creatures flying out of their hiding places underneath the canopy, Alicia felt rather worried herself._

_After they had established the fact that they had to expect a massive invasion of hostile and aggressive reptiles, Taylor put Wash in charge of clearing the market place and instructing people to stay inside their houses, the last point on her list being Boylan´s bar._

_"Lieutenant, what a nice surprise, missing me?"_

_"Stop talking, Boylan, I don't want to hurt you- well, maybe I do but right now I´m busy."_

_The barkeeper approached her slowly, letting his eyes roam over her body, a sleazy smile on his face._

_"Aw, one of these days you´ll admit that you dream of me at night, Lieutenant, now what can I do for you?"_

_Fighting the urge to slap him, Wash concentrated on the task at hand._

_"I want everybody out of this bar in ten minutes, Boylan, send them home, tell them there´s an emergency evacuation of all public places."_

_"You´re closing me down for the day?"_

_"For the day, for tomorrow, probably longer, how ever long it takes."_

_"I hope I´ll be compensated for this- we could talk about that later, at my place."_

_Wash ignored him and turned around, motioning for one of her soldiers to stay and for the other´s to follow her._

_Finally she was satisfied that everyone was inside their homes or another secure building and went back to the command center where she found the commander standing on the balcony, looking out towards the woods._

_"Everyone is inside, Sir."_

_"Thank you, Lieutenant- Malcom and Doc Shannon think they can find a way to stop these things, if we can provide them with a few living specimens."_

_"Shouldn´t be too hard, Sir."_

_"No, Shannon will go hunting tonight, Guzman will stay at the gate as backup if something goes wrong and you make sure to make things as hard as possible for these things, pull every trick you know, Wash, netting, sonics, lights, whatever you can come up with."_

_"Will do, Sir- Shannon will only have to go to the tree line, they´re likely to attack him as soon as you approach, anyway."_

_"Suppose so- I don´t like this, sometimes it seems we weren´t prepared for anything when we got here, makes you feel a bit out of control, doesn´t it."_

_Wash smiled, putting a hand on his upper arm._

_"Might be a nice challenge for you, Sir, being out of control."_

_Taylor turned towards her, his eyes dancing with amusement._

_"It´s not that rare, Wash, there are certain people who can make me loose it rather quickly."_

_"Anyone in particular, Sir?"_

_She asked innocently, then drew in a sharp breath when Taylor took a step towards her, coming to stand so close their bodies were almost touching._

_"You one of them, Lieutenant- now go and get dressed up for battle, we´ll start preparing as soon as the sun is down."_

_He turned away and she just stood there for a moment, nerves tingling and blood pumping through her veins, she shouldn´t let him affect her in this way, it was madness but she couldn´t help herself, when it came to Nathaniel Taylor, Alicia Washington was hopelessly lost._

Not listening to Malcom´s instructions, the commander beckoned Wash to follow him down to the rover.

"Shannon will go out now- he´ll be back inside as soon as possible, I´ll keep you updated via radio and Guz will be close to the gate if anything goes wrong. I´ll be monitoring everything from the office and come up with a strategy for evacuating Terra Nova if things don´t go as planned."

She nodded while running her hands over his body armor, like usual making sure everything was securely fastened.

"You know, I used to get dressed by myself for a few years before you were old enough to join the army" he joked, shaking his head in amusement when she pouted.

"I´m horrified to think how that might have looked, Sir."

Taylor reached for her ponytail and wrapped it around his hand, tugging lightly before running his fingers through the dark strands.

"Promise me something" he was sounding serious now, "if these things attack before you´ve finished securing the colony, you´ll get back to command as quickly as possible, I don´t want you in the thick of things, getting hurt."

She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the feeling of his fingers playing with her hair, then she looked back up at him, defiantly.

"With all due respect, Sir, I can´t just hide somewhere if things don´t go as planned, I´m a soldier and I have the duty to protect-"

"You have the duty to keep alive and well because I can´t run the colony without you, so try and be reasonable, Wash."

He let go of her hair and clapped her shoulder in a reassuring way, then walked over to Guzman, just as Shannon and Malcom began descending the steps and Wash marched over to the empty market place where her own unit was waiting for her.

"All right, guys, I want every civilian domicile secured, windows and doors shut, one armed man standing guard outside or being inside if the inhabitants ask you to, nobody is to go outside without being told otherwise, the water systems and the energy grids need sealing and netting, I want you all to be polite but firm when interacting with civilians, people don´t tend to function well in a crises- dismissed."

The soldiers went off to carry out her orders and Alicia stopped Mark Reynolds, beckoning him over to her, out of earshot.

"Jenkins is standing guard outside Jim Shannon´s house, go relieve him in the morning, you might want to tell anyone who might listen that there was a mix up with the duty roster."

Mark smiled gratefully at her.

"Thank´s, Ma´am."

"That´s all right- stay save, Soldier."

"Yes, Ma´am- you, too."

They smiled at each other, then Mark hurried off to help with sealing off the water system while Wash made her way along the fence, instructing the guards on watchtower duty, she spend the next few hours overseeing the preparations and when dawn came she was satisfied with the results, they might actually manage to last for a while now.

Shannon arrived just as she was on her way to report back to Taylor and she accompanied him to the lab where Malcom was waiting with Elizabeth Shannon, both of them looking determined to find something that would help them fight the reptiles.

When she asked the commander how long he thought they could last, he seemed even more optimistic that Wash, telling her that if they got lucky they might actually make it until the next morning.

Dr. Shannon and Malcom came up with a plan to hopefully lure the animals away from the colony and Taylor approved, telling Shannon to get a transport ready and sending Wash out to once again make sure that Terra Nova was completely shut down.

She arrived back at command an hour later to inform her CO that everything was in order and all they could do now was hoping that their scientists would hurry up with mixing their pheromone cocktail.

"I take it you´re going yourself, Sir?"

She asked, trying to keep her tone as neutral as possible but Taylor wasn´t fooled.

"Indeed I am, Wash and before you get any ideas, Shannon will come with me and you will act as commander in my absence."

There was silence for a moment, then Wash turned away from him, looking out of the window.

"It hurts to be replaced, you know" she said, sighing softly when he stepped up behind her, his hands finding her upper arms as she leaned back against his chest.

"No one could ever replace you" he told her sincerely, then added "besides Shannon isn´t half as easy on the eyes as you are."

She laughed softly, turning her head to briefly touch her lips to his cheek, then brushed past him and slipped out of the office.

The reptiles started their attack shortly afterwards and Wash was glad for her body armor and sonic gun as she hastened from house to house, making sure doors and windows were closed.

She met Taylor again outside the infirmary where he was wrestling a large ton that previously had held fertilizer, already clad in full body armor himself.

"Hey, Wash- how is everyone holding up?"

"Fine, Sir, up to now the seals are holding."

"Good- I´ll try and put a little fear in Malcom now, make him hurry up" he winked at her, causing her to shake her head in exasperation.

"You´re impossible, Taylor, can´t you be serious for just one minute in the middle of a full blown crises?"

"Not when you have that look on your face, Wash."

"What look?"

"That look that tells me you´re going to rearrange my armor and fuss over me dying somewhere" he told her, straightening up and extending his hand to her.

When she took it he pulled her to him, holding her tightly against his chest for a moment before dipping a kiss to her forehead, letting his lips linger before releasing her.

"Now go, woman, I don´t have time for you to get all teary eyed on me."

"I never get teary eyed, Sir."

"Could have fooled me there for a moment, Wash- stay safe."

"You, too, Sir."

He picked up the ton and Wash made sure none of the reptiles could follow him inside before closing the door behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

So here´s the next part, spoilers for Instinct and What remains.

I don´t own anything, nor do I want to offend anyone who does.

**MissCallaLilly, morningsong101, metube, proud to be imperfect, thanks very much for the reviews :)**

_MissCallaLily_: Yeah, well, there´ll be some more digging of course and don´t worry, I´ll make Guzman hit on her in the near future ;)

_morningsong101_: Yeah, well, I wasn´t that happy with the first chapters, was all a little too superficial which made me decide to go more into the dark side of the characters, there´s a lot of potential for it in the series itself, Taylor´s secrets of course, him lying to Shannon in the beginning, withholding information, having the deal with Boylan etc.

Well, there´s no big mystery in here about the Boylan/Mira thing, it´s just that Taylor and Wash are trying to make sure he won't talk and up to now there´s no real harm in him communicating with the Sixers, so I´m assuming in here that they know and that he knows they know.

It´s their scheme to keep a record of things that can be used against influential people if the need should arise, for example in this storyline Wash will know about Josh Shannon stealing from the infirmary and she´ll let Jim know that she´s aware of him covering for his son so Jim covering for Taylor won´t be so much of a surprise.

_me tube_: Lol, thanks, I thought it was time for a little cuteness, they are still human after all and somewhere hidden deep inside they have soft sides- I think- naw, they do… Yeah, well, Taylor´s concept of talking is a bit lacking, if you ask me- or Wash…

_proud to be imperfect_: Sorry about that, the next one will be longer- still have a cliffhanger though, but since we all know how What remains ends, it´s not so bad… I think I´m understanding them better by now, I have this writing style where I just type as fast as I can without thinking, so usually when I read it through afterwards, things come as a surprise, so sometimes it works better than at other times and I sort of need to develop the characters as I go forward- ok, that´s confusing- anyway, here´s the next part.

Enjoy, everyone. 3

* * *

Taylor sent his lieutenant back up to command as he and Shannon prepared for their departure, making it an order when she hesitated to go.

She watched as the rover drove off, followed by the screeching reptiles, trying to keep herself from panicking, she had to stay calm and collected, as long as she was in command she didn´t have time for wayward emotions.

The night was spend checking up on the members of their unit, listening to their reports and making sure no one strayed outside, they couldn´t be sure that the attacks were really over, not until Taylor and Shannon would be back from their mission.

She had just talked to Mark Reynolds outside the Shannon´s house and send him off to bed when she was informed via radio that the rover was on it´s way in.

Elizabeth Shannon was pacing in front of the gate, the two women exchanged a glance and Alicia saw the sympathy in the other woman´s eyes but tried not to think about it too closely.

The rover was making it´s way towards the colony, Guzman yelling for the gate to be raised and when the doors opened, Wash hurried around to the commander´s side.

She couldn´t believe him when he brushed her off, his face was dotted with blood and all Wash wanted was to check on each of the tiny cuts and make sure he would be all right but of course he wasn´t having any of it.

The Shannon´s greeted each other, then there was an awkward moment after Malcolm´s comment about Malcolmus pterosauria, the silence broken by the commander announcing that he would go and catch up on some sleep.

He clapped Wash on the shoulder, smiling reassuringly at her and she waited until Malcolm had left and the Shannon´s were occupied with themselves again before hastening after her CO.

"Wash, I was actually on my way to bed- alone" he added, winking at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Not so fast, Sir, you can sleep after I´ve patched you up."

"Should have known that you wouldn´t let me off that easily, right, Wash?"

"I´d say so, Sir."

She followed him over to the barracks and into his home, closing the door behind herself before getting rid of her body armor and weapons and waited until the commander had done the same.

"I´ll go take a shower, you pour the drinks."

He made his way towards the bathroom while Wash collected a bottle of bourbon and two glasses from the kitchen area and settled herself onto the sofa and when he came back into the living room, she had poured their drinks and was flicking through some files on her data pad.

"Feeling better?"

She asked, looking up and almost dropping the glass when she came face to face with her CO wearing a pair of black sweatpants and no shirt, droplets of water glistening on his bare chest, chest muscles rippling as he toweled his hair.

"Yeah, I do- there´s a cut on my neck that needs stitching, the rest should be fine. You´re all right, Wash, you look flushed."

He looked her upside down and she quickly avoided her eyes and concentrated on closing the files down before reaching for the medic kit on the table.

"I´m good, let´s stitch you up."

He sat down next to you, dropping the towel carelessly to the floor before relaxing back against the sofa.

"Ready to go, Lieutenant."

Wash carefully cleaned the wound on his neck before stitching it up, Taylor telling her about his mission while she worked, wincing occasionally when the disinfectant liquid burned on the raw skin.

"All done" Wash announced finally, satisfied that most of of his injuries had indeed proven to be superficial.

"Good job, Wash, glad I´ve decided to keep you around."

He teased, catching her hand in his when she punched his arm.

"No hitting an injured man, especially not your CO, woman."

"Easily avoided by keeping your mouth shut, Sir."

She shot back, pulling her hand out of his and making a mental note to avoid further body contact with him, in his current state of dress or rather lack thereof, touching him was even more distracting than usual.

Wash got up from the sofa, straightening her clothes and trying not to stare too obviously at the commander´s bare chest.

"I´ll go and wake unit three now, Sir, I send them off to bed after midnight so they would be ready to clean up in the morning."

"Good thinking, Lieutenant, we´d better get everything back to normal as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Sir."

"Tell Guzman to take a few men and get the supplies out to Outpost three, with Malcolmus pterosauria gone, they shouldn´t encounter any problems."

Wash bit her lip, shaking with silent laughter and the commander looked just as amused as she was.

"All right, Sir, I´ll see to that."

_It had taken almost two weeks to get the colony back to it´s original state and by then another problem had occurred: After Guzman had delivered the necessary supplies to outpost 3 and gotten back to the colony without further complications, they had lost contact to the outpost, apparently their communication devices in the area had shut down._

_Wash had been working all night in the command center, trying to find a way to contact the science team on work there while the commander had taken the night off, preparing to go out to the outpost with Elisabeth Shannon and a couple of soldiers for backup in the morning._

_The sun had barely risen when Taylor entered the office, carrying two mugs of coffee and already wearing his shoulder holster._

_"Morning, Wash- been up all night?"_

_"Yes, Sir-" she took the coffee and drank half of it before putting the mug down onto the desk._

_"There´s nothing we can do, though, I can´t find any way to communicate, I´d guess the cables are broken somehow, probably the local wildlife, we´ve had that problem before."_

_"Well, if you can´t do anything about it, we´ll just have to go out and see if we can repair it- try and keep Shannon under control, he´s not pleased I´m taking his wife with me but I might need the Doc."_

_"You could just take a medic instead" Wash replied, shutting down her flex pad._

_"Nice try but I need you here, we don´t know what we´ll encounter there so chance is I might not be coming back anytime soon."_

_She frowned, glaring at him._

_"Don´t talk that way, I hate it when you do that, just try and keep out of trouble, I need you back here tonight, the Doc, too, Reynolds is having dinner at the Shannon´s tonight and the poor boy will die if he´s all alone there with Shannon glaring at him."_

_"I take it that Miss Shannon will be present, also" the commander winked at her and Wash rolled her eyes._

_"All right, Sir, I´ll stop worrying and concentrate of keeping the colony running- now get out of here, it´s almost light outside."_

_She got up and accompanied him outside on the balcony where he briefly touched her arm in a reassuring way before making his way down the steps and towards the waiting rover, leavening Alicia to look after him, not feeling reassured at all._

_"Taylor to Washington."_

"Copying, Sir."

"We have a problem here, Lieutenant, the research team has encountered some sort of pathogen, they´ve all been infected, it causes memory loss, sets you back in time, makes you think you´re somewhere in the past- unless we know more, Outpost three is under general quarantine."

Wash closed her eyes, trying to suppress the upcoming feeling of panic.

"Are you all right, Sir?"

"Up to now we all feel fine, we´ve likely been exposed, though, Dr. Guagenti left a video message and some notes, he tried to come up with a diagnose, didn´t get far, the Doc is giving it a shot now."

Alicia sank back into the desk chair, trying to keep her voice from breaking.

"Any specific orders, Sir?"

"Try to keep it under wrap, at least until tomorrow, I´ll check in again as soon as there´s new information, don´t consider sending out a team before nightfall tomorrow, I don´t want to risk more people."

"Will do, Sir- Nathaniel?"

Her voice sounded far too soft for her liking but right now there wasn´t much she could do about it, he was in danger and she wasn´t with him, once again forced to sit idly and wait it out.

"What is it, Alicia?"

He was speaking quiet now, apparently now wanting to be overheard.

"Please, I need you to come home."

Later, once she would have time to reign her emotions in again, she would probably feel embarrassed by her outburst but right now she needed to tell him how she felt.

"I´ll do my best, now pull yourself together, Lieutenant, I need you to hold down the fort."

She chuckled darkly, his ability to make silly jokes no matter how serious a situation was never ceased to surprise her.

"I´ll do you proud, Sir."

She could hear the smile in his voice as he answered her.

"You always do, Lieutenant- see you when I get back, Taylor out."

He hadn´t checked in again and finally Wash had called it a night and made her way over to her home, stopping briefly at Guzman´s house to tell him he was in commander while she tried to get some rest.

After a few hours of drifting in and out of a fitful sleep she couldn´t take it anymore and got up, getting dressed quickly and made it to the gate in time for morning patrol where she met Guzman.

"Morning, Wash, what are you doing up already?"

"Can´t sleep- any news?"

"None, I´m sorry."

"Not your fault- go get some sleep, I´ll do patrol."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I need to do something, you know how I get."

He smiled, nodding before putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Don´t take it too hard, he´s tough, he´ll be ok."

She smiled gratefully at her comrade who squeezed her shoulder before walking away from her in the direction of the barracks.

Wash activated her radio set, starting to walk along the fence.

"Washington to Taylor, are you copying?"

There was no answer and she sighed, it could only mean that her CO already didn't remember his own radio anymore, hopefully it was only that and nothing worse.

"Washington to Reynolds."

"Copying, Ma´am, what do you need?"

"Are you up yet?"

"Having breakfast."

"I need someone to talk, any objection to doing morning patrol with me, soldier?"

"No, Ma´am, I´ll be there in five."

She waited, leaning against the fence and five minutes later she saw Mark hurrying towards her, pulling his jacket on as he went.

"Morning, Ma´am."

He saluted and she smiled, shaking her head.

"At ease- have you brought anything to eat?"

"Sure did."

He handed her two energy bars, then fell into step next to her as Wash unwrapped one of the bars and bit into it.

"So how was your date?"

She asked, smirking when the young man blushed.

"Uh- it was fine, I think- she´s wonderful, her father´s scary though."

"That´s his job, don´t take it personal."

"I´ll try- so what´s going on, you sounded worried- is the commander back yet?"

She shook her head.

"They are still out- it doesn't look as though they´d be back anytime soon."

"Is anything wrong?"

Wash bit her lip.

"I´m not supposed to tell you, so don´t tell anyone, ok?"

"Wouldn´t dream of it."

"I know, it´s just a habit to tell you- there seems to be some sort of pathogen affecting the memory of the scientists at Outpost three, the commander checked in with me after they had found out and told me, I haven´t head from him since."

"You think they are affected as well?"

"Most likely, yes- if they don´t check in I´ll send another team out tonight."

Mark put his hand on her arm, stopping her.

"I`m sorry, I know you´re worried."

"I´m fine, I just hate to sit around and wait, it´s not for me."

They walked on in silence, both lost in thoughts until they parted in front of the command center, Mark leaving for watchtower duty while Alicia climbed up the steps to the command center.

She had only just activated her desktop when Jim Shannon entered, asking for word from Outpost three.

Wash tried to make light of the situation but of course the man wasn´t fooled and when he stormed out again, she wasn´t at all sure if ordering him to stay put would have any effort but she couldn´t dwell on that right now, she had to inform the security detail of the crises and come up with a plan of action.

_She tried to check in with Outpost three several times, finally loosing patience and deciding to try as long as it would take to contact anyone, only to come face to face with Jim Shannon, wearing a bio suit and looking awfully pleased with himself._

_She slammed her hand on the table in rage when he simply put her offline, she would tell him exactly what she thought of him and his little stunts when he got back, right now she actually had to put faith in him and wait until he contacted her once more._

_Wash got up and started pacing, feeling more and more frustrated by the minute._

_The lieutenant spun around at the sound of the door opening, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Taylor closing it behind him, his knife in hand._

_"He was right, then" the commander hissed as she stood motionless, "you are in on this, it was all a trick, how could you, Wash?"_

_Trying to comprehend what he was talking about she slowly moved backwards, away from him, wondering if she might have a chance to knock him out with her sonic gun before he gutted her with the knife._

_"Sir, it´s now what you think-"_

_"How did you do it, I saw you bleeding out, how could you fake that?"_

_Fighting the onslaught of memories at him mentioning the most severe injury of her career, she realized that he was thinking he was back at Somalia, more precisely back to the blackest time of his life._

_Steeling herself for what was undoubtedly to come next, she tried to get through to him._

_"You have been infected with something, Sir, your memory is failing you."_

_"My memory is fine, you are the one who´s failing me, I lost precious time staying there with you, couldn´t leave you when you were dying."_

_"Sir-"_

_"Shut up- you know what was the last thing I said to my wife? I told her I was in love with you, she asked me, said she´d seen the way I was looking at you, wanted to know if I was sleeping with you or if it was worse."_

_Wash watched him in horror as he tightened the grip around his knife, apparently trying to get back in control of his emotions, the situation was getting more dangerous by the moment, there was no way she could alert anyone, she had to convince him all by herself._

_"This isn´t true, you loved her, Ayani, not me, this is in your head."_

_"I told her I loved her but I loved you, too, I thought I knew you, I thought you were my soulmate, Wash- how can it all be a lie, how long have you been working for them?"_

_"Sir, I-"_

_The sound of voices outside caused Taylor to shrink back into the shadows next to the door and then then door opened and Maddy Shannon entered the office, followed by Mark Reynolds and before Alicia could get the seriousness of the situation through to the young man, Taylor had his knife at Mark´s throat._

_She could tell that Taylor´s comment about not being good at following orders was directed at her by the look he gave her as he pressed the blade into Reynolds´ skin._

_Desperate Wash began to trigger Taylor´s emotions, using his believes, his morals to convince him to believe her, keeping Maddy behind herself and feeling relieved for a brief moment when Taylor let go of Mark._

_He accused her of lying again and she played her last card, telling him that he knew she would never lie to him and finally he seemed to believe her, pushing Mark away but keeping his knife trained at her throat._

_Trying hard to hold back the tears threatening to spill over at any moment, Wash told him that he was home, her hand hovering over her sonic gun when she had to tell him that his wife was gone, dead and when he lifted his knife to his throat, too emotionally exhausted and confused to be able to comprehend what was happening to him, she was ready and her shot made him fly several feet across the room._

_She kneeled down next to him, frantically checking for a pulse, yelling at Maddy to get help._

_The girl ran out of the room as Mark crouched down next to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder._

_"Quiet a shot, Ma´am" he told her, sounding shocked and she looked up, tears now running freely down her face._

_"It´s what got me into his unit, being the quicker shot" she sobbed, her fingers trailing down Taylor´s cheek, she needed to touch him, make sure he was still alive._

_Mark wrapped her arms around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest and she allowed herself to relax for a moment, grateful for his warm, nonjudgemental presence, he had just gone through hell himself and yet he was comforting her, she had never made a better decision than claiming Mark Reynolds for her own unit._

_"Thanks" she whispered, straightening up again and he nodded, handing her back the sonic gun she had put onto the floor to check on Taylor._

_"Don´t mention it."_

_The door flew open again and the medic team crowded in, sedating Taylor and putting him onto a stretcher to transport him to the infirmary._

_Wash got up and followed them outside, activating her radio on the way._

_"Washington to Guzman."_

_"Guzman copying."_

_"Could you come up to command, I need you to stay there, the commander is in the infirmary."_

_"On my way, Wash, keep me posted."_

_Taylor was put down on one of the beds and Wash turned to Maddy and Mark._

_"I´m afraid you guys will have to stay here, we need to put the infirmary under quarantine as well."_

_Mark led Maddy away to a quiet corner, the girl looked thoroughly shaken and Wash felt sorry for her but just then one of the guards was carried in and she instantly realized that it had been Taylor who had knocked the man out._

_"Everyone inside here is under quarantine" she ordered, "close the doors, try and stay calm, we have to wait for help."_

_She personally restrained Taylor´s wrists, gently caressing his arm before asking a nurse to clean the earth stains off his face, then she made her way over to the bed where Mark was sitting with Maddy._

_"I´m sorry you got in between" she began, giving the girl a rare smile._

_"It´s ok" Maddy was still sounding agitated, "next time you tell me to get, I´ll just get out, I didn´t know your life was quite so exciting."_

_"It usually isn´t, most of the time it´s paperwork" Wash joked, then turned to Mark._

_"Are you hurt?"_

_"No, Ma´am, just a bit shaken."_

_"That´s to be expected, having a knife to your throat isn´t a pleasant experience."_

_"Has it happened to you, too?"_

_Maddy asked and Alicia couldn´t help but hope that the girl´s innocence wouldn´t corrupted too soon, this was exactly what Terra Nova was supposed to be about, young people able to believe in peace, love and trust, who couldn't even imagine what horrors human kind was capable of, Maddy Shannon had no idea that at her age Alicia had already been at war, fighting for her life, being wounded, watching her comrades die._

_"Yes, Ms. Shannon, I´m afraid it has- now try and relax, we have to wait for your mother to get back here."_


	6. Chapter 6

**The next part will begin on the evening after the events of ´What remains´and is rated M.**

**As always, I don´t own anything... Enjoy :)  
**

MissCallaLily, metube, Madi92, thanks very much for the reviews.

**MissCallaLily:** Thank you very much, I´ll try and keep doing just that :) I´m sorry it took so long but I have the next part almost finished as well, so it´ll be up quicker than this one.

**metube:** Well, it seemed to fit, might come back to that in future chapters- well, of course he´ll have to explain that to Wash at some point, will not be happening straight away though, I´ll keep it for some emotional turmoil, right now they´ll be a bit distracted from doing too much talking but I´ll get to it eventually.

As far as this storyline goes, Taylor has married a sweet, lovable woman who he has been very happy with but with whom he couldn´t share anything that happened to him at the front line.  
He´s been coping with everything he´s seen and done by himself, thinking that it was the normal way to do things and then he´s met Alicia and realized that she´s just like him, understands him perfectly, that he can talk to her about everything and that she has the same burden.

So as a result he´s fallen in love with Wash, too, in a different way from his wife but not less intense, or maybe even more so because he thinks that she is his soulmate.

Well, part of the chapter was almost a bit too sweet to be in character for my taste but then they are human as well and I think that even someone as battle hardened (that was the nice description for plain evil ;) ) as Taylor needs someone he can voice his fears to and be weak with and for him that´s Wash, so if they seem to sweet it´s because we see a side of them we don´t get in the Show, the really intimate, really private one.

Madi92: Thanks so much, that means a lot, really does- I´m going to have to disappoint you anyway because they won´t talk much in this chapter, they´ll be too busy exploring their newly found intimate relationship.

I have a feeling the talking might happen after Mira kidnaps Wash because it will be really frustrating for both Taylor and Alicia and they´ll have to discuss where they stand with each other, what they are to each other afterwards to work it out.

I wasn´t really planning to write a long Wash/Mira scene but I´ll expand it for you since you´re obviously looking forward to it.

* * *

Wash was standing next to Taylor´s bed, watching him sleep.

No one in the infirmary was experiencing any symptoms, the team of doctors had come to the conclusion that the virus lost it´s contagiousness after being exposed to the air too long.

Elisabeth Shannon and Malcom had come back an hour ago, bringing with them the vaccine they had created at the outpost.

Taylor had been injected and now Wash was anxiously waiting for the commander to wake up, she couldn´t leave until she was sure he would be ok and she desperately wanted time alone to think.

The commander stirred and Wash stepped closer, putting a hand on her CO´s arm while calling for Dr. Shannon who started to question Taylor, then exchanged a glance with Wash, seeking for reassurance that it would be ok to loosen the ties holding him down and Alicia nodded, starting to loosen the band on her side.

He was still looking a little confused but when he looked up at Wash, seeking reassurance, she saw the usual unwavering trust in his eyes and the anxiety of the previous hours finally melted away, leaving only relief and when Elisabeth Shannon told Taylor they would let him rest now, Wash didn´t protest but turned to leave, only to be stopped by him.

"Lieutenant."

"Yes, Sir."

He was looking at her with a strange expression on his face, a combination of surprise and pride and she stood up straighter, feeling sure she knew what he was thinking about.

"You shot me."

She hesitated briefly.

"I did, Sir."

His eyes twinkled.

"Good job."

She gave him an exasperated look, ignoring Elisabeth Shannon´s amusement and finally left the infirmary, pausing briefly to take in the scenery before her.

Everything looked normal, peaceful, people going about their business as usual, it was only her world that had been turned upside down and she had no idea how to deal with it.

As a rule Taylor didn't talk about his wife, Wash was fine with it and now she didn´t know what to do, she needed to know if what he had told her was true but right now it wasn´t even certain that he would remember their earlier conversation.

"Hey, Wash."

She looked up to see Jim Shannon making his way towards her, he looked tired but otherwise unharmed and she nodded her head in greeting.

"Shannon."

"Walk with me a bit? I´d like to ask you something."

"Sure."

They fell into step next to each other, making their way towards the housing units.

"You were with Taylor at Somalia" Shannon began and Wash knew were this was leading instantly.

"He told you about Ayani?"

"Yeah- he kept asking were she was, I thought he was talking about you at first-"

"No, I should have been out of the picture at that time already."

"That´s what he said- he said he´d seen you being medevac´d out."

Wash sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she would have to tell him the story, at least part of it.

"Things got out of control, nowhere was safe, Taylor began keeping his family as close as possible, we thought we could protect them within the camp.

That night we were surprised, grenades exploding everywhere, gunfire, Taylor told me to stay by the tents, keep his wife and son safe while he went to fight them off.

It turned out it was a distraction, what they really wanted was to get to Ayani and Lucas, while Taylor and our unit were outside the camp, a dozen men came for them, I shot half of them, attacked another one before I took a knife to my stomach, the guy pulled it out, rammed it in again a little lower, another one put three bullets into my chest, when I came to, Ayani and Lucas were gone and Taylor was there with me, telling me to hold on, that the copter was on it´s way."

Wash broke off, thinking how Taylor had told her that he was sorry, that all he had wanted was to keep her safe, that he had told her to stay behind, being convinced that no one would come anywhere near the tents and instead he had condemned her to the worst fate possible, how he had caressed her face as she lay in his arms, rocking her gently, refusing to leave her to go after his family when she pleaded with him to do so.

Jim Shannon was silent, looking horrified but Wash was used to that look, people who hadn´t been to the front line could never really image what it was like.

"What happened when he got here?"

He asked finally, looking as though he wasn´t sure he wanted to know the answer and something in his tone made Wash suspicious.

"Have you said anything to him?"

"He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"

"I was quicker- why?"

"I`m sorry, Wash, like I said, I mentioned you and he said something like there was no way you were in on that- he came here and you were here and-"

"It´s ok, he didn´t hurt me."

Her tone made it clear the subject was closed and Shannon nodded, then made to walk towards his house but Wash stopped him.

"Not so quick, we got to talk about something else."

"Uhm- about what happened-"

"Shut it, Shannon, I talk, you listen. I know you think you´re above rules and orders and that it´s grand and noble to do what you think is right but that´s not how we deal with things here, we like rules, we like order and when I tell you not to do something, you listen, understood?"

He hesitated, then seemed to decide that there wasn´t much he could say to that.

"Yes, Ma´am."

His sheepish expression was lost on her when she noticed two of her soldiers standing outside the Shannon´s house and she marched over to them, looking grim as they stood to attention.

"Henderson, Smith, what are you doing here?"

"Guarding the house, Ma´am."

Henderson replied, sounding nervous.

"Who ordered that?"

"Reynold´s, Ma´am."

"I see- you´re dismissed, go and get some sleep, you´re both on watchtower duty later."

The men walked away and Wash hurried off towards the market, determined to have a word with Mark.

She found him with Maddy, sitting at at table having breakfast, his face nervous as she came towards him and he got up, standing to attention.

"Reynolds, who gave you permission to post someone outside the Shannon´s house?"

"No one, Ma´am."

"You´re on cleaning duty for the next week, my soldiers aren´t babysitters, keep that in mind."

"Yes, Ma´am, I´m sorry, Ma´am."

He looked at her sheepishly but for once the look didn´t sooth Alicia, it was one thing to have a soft spot for one of her recruits, it didn´t mean she wouldn´t discipline him in the same way she would have done with anyone else.

Finally reaching the gate, Wash leaned onto it, wondering if she should just go home, she was completely exhausted and she wanted to stop thinking and sleep for a while.

"Terra for your thoughts."

She turned her head, lifting an eyebrow at Guzman.

"Funny, aren´t you- shouldn´t you be sleeping?"

"I´m not tired and you look as though you need a drink."

"It´s not even dinner time, Guz."

"So what, I remember us drinking whole days away back in Somalia."

"Bad days, Guz, days were we wanted to forget."

"You don't want to forget today? Come on, Wash, humor me, it was one hell of a night, I really want a drink and a beautiful woman for company."

She snorted, shaking her head.

"And you´re asking me? You need your eyes checked, Guzman."

"Fishing for complements, Lieutenant?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking him upside down critically.

"You are serious, aren´t you."

"´Course I am- you are beautiful, don´t tell me you don´t know it,- come on, Boylan´s my treat."

"Oh well, one thing so, if you try any funny business, I´ll break something."

He laughed, putting his arm around her shoulders as he stirred her towards the barracks.

"I might just risk that, now relax, everyone is fine and things will be back to normal tomorrow-."

"Hopefully- where are we going, I believe Boylan´s is the other way."

"We´re going to change- you own a dress?"

"Is that a challenge, Guzman?"

He smiled charmingly at her, shrugging and Alicia squared her shoulders.

"All right, you´re on."

_They met outside Guzman´s house half an hour later, he now in blue jeans and a black button down shirt, Alicia in a deep red summer dress with her hair curling loosely around her face._

_"Wash, look at you, don´t you clean up nicely, I didn´t even know you can walk in heels."_

_Guzman winked at her, chuckling when her fist collected with his arm._

_"Shut up, Guzman, or I´ll ram them into your foot."_

_"I´m wearing boots, you can´t do any damage- you´re not going all Martini on me though, are you?"_

_"No, don´t worry, in my opinion dresses and bourbon go very well together."_

_Heads turned when they entered the bar and Boylan waved at them from behind the bar, grinning at Wash as she glared back._

_"Hey, Lieutenant, almost didn´t recognize you."_

_"Don´t get your hopes up, Boylan, I can still kick your ass in those."_

_"Might be worth it- what can I get you?"_

_Guzman ordered bourbon for them both and they remained standing at the bar, observing the people around them._

_"Considering it´s not even dinnertime it´s rather packed, don´t you think."_

_Wash shrugged, finishing her drink._

_"I suppose so- another one?"_

_"Sure, keep them coming."_

_They were joined by several members of their units as the evening progressed and despite her earlier protest Wash found herself enjoying the company and the music and when Guzman asked her to dance, she accepted and allowed him to pull her after him and onto the dance floor._

_To her surprise he turned out to be quite talented, spinning and twirling her around expertly, making her feel carefree and happy until he suddenly stopped and stood up straight, looking over her shoulder._

_She turned slowly, hopping against hope that her suspicions wouldn´t come true but of course she didn't get that lucky and when her eyes met the commander´s, the icy cold in his gaze made her wonder if she wouldn´t have been better off with going to bed after all._

_"Damn" Guzman swore under his breath, "Alicia, I thought those rumors were just rumors, you told me-"_

_She ignored him and began walking towards Taylor who was leaning against a column near the stairs, clad in his usual black leather jacket, fury radiating off him in waves._

_"Outside" he snarled, waiting for her to start climbing the stairs before following her and Wash hastened to obey, she didn't want to provoke him any further, even though he technically had no right to act this way, she knew better than to point it out to him._

_Taylor led the way up to the command center without so much as looking at Alicia, the door fell shut behind them and she was pressed against the wall in an instant, his lips crushing down on her´s, his hands bunching the skirt of her dress up around her waist as he forced one of his legs between her´s._

_She kissed him back with equal passion, it didn´t matter to her what exactly had caused him to change his mind as long as he didn´t stop._

_Taylor broke the kiss long enough to pull Wash´s dress up and over her head, his eyes darkening at the sight of her in nothing but her panties and heels, then he reached around her, lifting her up and Wash wrapped her legs around his hips, moaning when she felt his erection press against her, her hands pushing his jacked off his shoulders._

_She felt lightheaded already, her heart beating almost painfully fast, he had always had that effect on her, making her loose her head completely with one well placed look or touch._

_He started kissing her again while carrying her over to the conference table, putting her down on the edge, stepping between her legs and pulling her to him once more._

_"Nathaniel" she gasped, her head falling back when his lips pressed against her pulse point, his hands were driving her mad, fingers splayed on her lower back, pressing her lower body against his, his other hand running up her bare thigh._

_"Tell me to stop" he rasped, his fingers digging into her thigh, bruising her flesh, her muscles flexing in response._

_"God help me, Wash, tell me to stop, I´ll ruin you completely if you don't."_

_His voice sounded strained, lust and desperation battling as he pressed himself against her and all she could do was cling to him, her fingers lacing through his hair as she pulled his face up to look into his eyes._

_"You won´t ruin me, you are a good man."_

_His laugh sounded hollow in her ears as he held her gaze without loosening his grip on her._

_"Ah come on, Wash, you don´t have to lie to make me feel better, you know I´m not a good man, if I was, I´d keep my hands off you."_

_He tipped up her chin and kissed her again, pulling her impossibly closer, one hand still pressing her to him, the other sneaking between them, cupping her breast and squeezing firmly, rendering her completely helpless with need._

_"Please" she gasped, the sensations almost too much, he was awakening a side of her she´d never known existed, manipulating her to surrender to him, do exactly what he wanted from her._

_"If I was a good man I wouldn´t feel this way about you" he breathed against her skin, sending shivers down her spine._

_"I wouldn´t feel this insane need to possess you in every way possible, to make you mine completely."_

_He bit down on her neck and Alicia whimpered softly, pain and pleasure combining to get her tangled even further in the web of seduction he was weaving around her, his words were becoming a blur, her senses overwrought as she helplessly cried out, a wave of pleasure rushing through her, brought on by nothing but the feeling of him touching her._

_She needed more, needed to feel his skin against her´s and he chuckled when she impatiently ripped his shirt in the middle in her haste to get him out of it._

_"Going back to being yourself again, I see, you had me worried for a moment back there."_

_"Never been one to go down easily, Sir" she joked, reaching for his belt and unbuckling it, feeling the atmosphere lighten up a little as he allowed her to push his pants and underwear down over his hips._

_He groaned when she ran her fingernails over his abdomen, muscles contracting at her touch, she could tell that his patience was running thin, his need to conquer and dominate surfacing again as he ripped her panties off and pushed her down onto the table, pushing into her with with one hard thrust._

_There was nothing gentle about their love making, they both weren´t cut out for languid kisses and whispered words of adoration, instead they played each other best the could, her nails cutting into his back, leaving scratches, making him groan with both pain and pleasure, his lips sucking on her soft skin, leavening marks, his hands closing so tightly around her hips, he left bruises, her teeth sinking into his lip, drawing blood, the taste of it arousing her even more._

_She cried out when he pushed back into her, roughly pressing her into the unyielding wood of the table, her back arching, his hand twisting into her hair as he picked up his pace._

_Alicia gave herself up completely, leaving him in control, it was liberating, just letting herself get swept away, the passion overwhelming her senses, all the time of waiting being made worth while in a single, glorious moment when he found just the right angle and drove her over the edge, following her moments later._

_Taylor held her against him, one hand weaving into her hair once more, the other stroking her back, his caresses soothing her overheated skin._

_Wash leaned into him to kiss him, still tasting a faint memory of blood on his lips, then she put her head back down onto his shoulder, sighing contentedly when he ran his fingers through her hair._

_"You´re beautiful" he told her, his voice deep and calm, all tension from earlier gone, "and I can see why everyone is afraid of you."_

_She chuckled, putting her leg up over his hip to get even closer to him, she didn´t want this moment to end but she knew that they would have to leave before anyone walked in on them._

_"And they don´t even know what your nails and teeth can do" Taylor added, now sounding amused, "perhaps I should let them see you like this, my one woman army."_

_"You sure know how to make a girl blush" Wash teased back, her fingertips tracing lazy patterns on his chest, "as long as you won´t let them see me now, all tame and sated and too tired to move."_

_"Don´t worry, I won´t tell anyone about that side of you, I´ll keep it all to myself."_

_"We should get out of here- we need to talk" she added, gently nudging him away from her so she could glide off the table._

_He stepped back, starting to collect his own clothes as she picked up her dress and pulled it back over her head before combing her fingers through her hair, trying to entangle it as well as she could, grateful that was dark outside, everyone seeing her in this state would be able to tell what she had spend the last hour doing up there._

_"Don´t forget these" Taylor held up her ripped panties and she gave him him a playful look, flipping her hair back over her shoulder._

_"You can keep them" she told him, smirking when he put the ripped silk into his pocked._

_"Ready?"_

_He asked and she shrugged._

_"Ready as I´m likely to be, let´s go."_

_They walked back towards the barracks in silence, casually greeting the guards on night duty who were trying to hide their curiosity, apparently the story of the commander ordering his lieutenant out of the bar had travelled the ranks like wildfire._

_"We have to be more careful" Alicia remarked, "I don´t want to be reduced to being the girl screwing the CO, I´ve seen that before, no fun at all."_

_"I don´t think you have anything to worry about there, Wash, they all know you´re my second because you´re the best damn soldier in this colony, nobody would say anything else."_

_"Not to my face, you mean- let´s just try and be a little less obvious, you know I want this, I just want to be discreet."_

_"We will be, hell, all I wanted was to talk to you, what on earth possessed you to wear a dress like that?"_

_Wash bit her lip, certain that mentioning the fact that Guzman had asked her to wouldn´t go down too well._

_"Permission not to tell, Sir."_

_"Denied" he growled, looking at her darkly while entering the security code into the lock on his door, "tell me."_

_She stepped inside and he followed her, closing the door before crowding her once again against the wall, his jacket hitting the floor._

_"So?_

_His hands were running up her sides, closing around her ribcage as he lifted her up against him, forcing her to wrap her legs around him to keep her balance._

_"Fine" she breathed, bending her neck to give him better access to her shoulder, "Guzman asked me if I even had a dress."_

_"And what?"_

_He muttered, pulling her skin between his teeth, marking her but she found she didn´t mind and instead dug her fingernails into his upper arms, returning the favor._

_"It was a challenge" she told him, not feeling the need to to explain herself further, he knew how competitive she was, it was a treat they shared._

_"You´ve never worn a dress for me" he was nibbling on her throat now, making it harder and harder for her to concentrate on talking._

_"You´ve never asked" she tightened her leg muscles around him, rubbing against him, she had never felt like this before, so needy and beyond caring about the consequences and to her intense relief he reached between them to work his belt and zipper open and then he was inside of her again and she screamed his name before she could stop herself but she was too far gone already to really care._

_His lips covered her´s, tongue´s dueling as he brought her to the edge quickly, swallowing her cry of completion when she came hard._

_Taylor buried his head against her shoulder as he followed her, then carefully let her back down onto the floor, making sure her legs were supporting her before letting go of her._

_They smoothed out their clothes, eyes still burning into each other and when Taylor pulled her to him again Wash kissed him back with abandon, wondering if she would ever be able to see him again without feeling this intense need but then that was why a relationship like their´s was prohibited in the first place and he had warned her repeatedly._

_They broke apart, breathless and Taylor leaned his forehead against Alicia´s, his arms loosely around her waist._

_"You think we manage to talk tonight?"_

_She asked, amusement audible in her voice._

_"Permission to speak freely?"_

_"Granted, Sir."_

_"No, we won´t manage but it´s ok, we´ll have time, there´s no way I´ll let you go again, not now."_

_She nodded, suddenly feeling completely exhausted and leaned against him, relying on him to keep her from simply collapsing to the floor._

_"Ok."_

_Sensing how tired she was he picked her up and cradled her against his chest, smiling into her hair when she wrapped her arms around his neck._

_"Come on, Lieutenant, time to get you to bed."_

_"Yes, Sir" she muttered, already feeling herself drifting off to sleep._

"Morning, Ma´am."

Alicia nodded at Mark Reynolds, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Reynolds- come on, we´re already late."

He gave a look and she nodded, motioning for him to follow her.

"Fine, I´m already late, now come on, let´s move."

Wash set a fast pace, Mark struggling to keep up with her.

She was furious with herself for not being on time, aware that the rumor mill was most likely already up and running.

When they arrived back at the gate, Wash turned towards Reynolds who automatically took a step back.

"Combat training in fifteen- don´t look at me like that."

"Yes, Ma´am."

He walked off towards the barracks while Alicia made her way up to the commander center.

"Morning, Wash" Taylor winked at her and she smirked, standing to attention.

"Good morning, Sir- I´ll be meeting my unit for combat training in fifteen minutes, I´ll be back in time for your meeting with Dr. Shannon and Malcolm."

"Need any more workout, Lieutenant?"

He drawled, leaning back in his chair.

"Never can have enough workout, Sir" she shot back before turning on her heel and marching down the steps again, thinking that life was steadily improving.


	7. Chapter 7

This chapter begins some days before ´The Runaway´and continues to the midst of the episode.

I don´t own anything, it all belongs to Fox.

**Madi92, CapeCodMakai, metube, MissCallaLily, thank you very much for taking the time to review :)**

**Madi92:** Lol, yeah, poor Guz- couldn´t have him killed, I like the guy, so he´ll just have to look for another pretty (ok almost as pretty) girl. Definitely talking in this chapter, though rather about Taylor being a bit of a pushover than anything else ;)

**CapeCodMaka**i: Thank you, that´s a very nice thing to say :D Well, there´s nothing like a jealous guy, is there- and Taylor is the perfect man to write jealousy, competitive, stubborn, self righteous, the whole package… Yeah, well, actually the whole possessiveness plot will thicken once I get to Bylaw and Vs and have to deal with all of Taylor´s little plots and secrets and work Wash in there.

**metube:** Yeah, well, it´s been a long time since I´ve written NC-17, ok, tame NC-17 but I rather rate things higher than too low, so yeah- I think it went ok, though, there´ll be a bit more hotness in the next part, it´s part of the storyline now of course but it´s still mainly about the plot about other things.

**MissCallaLily**: Thank you and here you go. ;)

* * *

Wash stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself and was reaching for a second one to wrap around her head when a knock on the door stopped her movements.

"Wash, you in there?"

Pulling the door open Wash leaned against the frame, looking up at her CO.

"I´m indisposed at the moment, Sir" she smirked up at him as she, too, followed the pattern of the last conversation they had had in the barracks.

"You don´t look indisposed to me, Lieutenant" he replied, pushing her back into the room before closing and locking the door.

"Taylor, we shouldn´t-"

He pulled the towel off her body, letting it fall to the floor before backing her back up towards the shower, his hands fisting into her wet hair as he covered her lips with his, kissing her hungrily until Alicia pulled away long enough to rip his shirt off, moaning at the skin to skin contact.

"Turn the water back on" he undressed while Wash stepped back inside the shower cabin, the hot water combining with Taylor´s arms wrapping around her making her whole body tingling with excitement.

She arched back into his chest, turning her head, her arm wrapping around his neck, pulling his lips back down to her´s, moaning into his mouth when his hands began to roam over her body.

"I can´t stop thinking about you" he whispered to her, his breath hot in her ear.

"I knew this would happen, damn it."

He pulled her back against him, one arm around her hips, the other reaching for her´s, lacing their fingers together and bracing them against the wall.

"You don´t seem too upset about it" she gasped when he pushed himself into her, her fingers tightening around his as she pushed back against him and then he sank his teeth into her neck and she shattered, biting her lip to keep herself from screaming.

When she came back down from her high she was cradled in Taylor´s arms, the water beating down on them as he peppered her shoulder with soothing kisses.

"We´re due at a meeting in ten, Sir."

Wash told him, her voice almost as firm as she had hoped.

"Back to lieutenant mood now?"

Taylor chuckled but let her go all the same, stepping out of the shower and reaching for a towel.

_"This is Reilly on watchtower four, Lieutenant Washington, are you copying?"_

_Taylor groaned, his head falling onto Wash´s shoulder._

_"Tell me that´s not happening."_

_"Lieutenant, are you copying?"_

_Wash pushed Taylor aside and reached for her radio, taking a deep, steadying breath._

_"Washington copying, what do you need, Sergeant?"_

_"We have something out here, it seems to be human and we-"_

_"I´m on my way, Washington out."_

_She got up, reaching for her clothes while Taylor sat up, watching her in silence._

_Wash pulled her tank over her head and reached for her body armor before turning around to him._

_"What?"_

_She asked, holding eye contact while strapping her gun to her thigh._

_"I have to go, technically I´m on duty and even if I weren´t, I would have to go, I´m their CO and they don´t know what to do, so I have to go and do it for them."_

_Taylor stared at her for a moment, then he started to laugh, shaking his head._

_"You´re really mad at them, aren´t you- look, I´m aware that you have to go, I´m not happy about it but we´ll pick up where we left off later- now don´t bite their heads off, they don´t know you were getting laid when they interrupted you."_

_"You´re so glad that I´m in a hurry" Wash hissed, throwing on her jacket and storming out on the room, promising herself that she would wipe that smug smile of his face later._

_She arrived at the watchtower five minutes later, still wound up and sincerely hoping that whatever her unit had spotted outside would turn out to be someone she could beat up to let off some steam._

_"Reilly" she barked up the tower, impatiently waiting until the younger woman had scrambled down the ladder and was standing to attention in front of her._

_"I want two motorcycles and three more people on foot, make it quick."_

_"Yes, Ma´am."_

_Reilly saluted, then ran off towards the barracks, talking hurriedly into her radio as she went while Wash yelled for the gate to be raised._

_She was starting to feel better as she tore through the trees, yelling orders but it all was over again the moment they found a little scared girl in an oversized parka staring up at them._

_Rolling her eyes, Wash told Reilly to pick up the kid and carry her to the infirmary, ignoring the other woman´s shocked expression as she stomped off back towards the gate._

_After the child had destroyed half the equipment in the infirmary, Wash was more than ready to just crawl into a dark corner and hide until everything had sorted itself out._

_"Wash? Where is she?"_

_For some reason Taylor looked perfectly put together while all Wash wanted to do was strangling the stubborn little girl and when her CO told Dr. Shannon that she could have some time but that he wanted to talk to the kid afterwards, Alicia resigned herself to the fact that love life had once again come to a halt for the rest of the night._

_She leaned back against the counter, looking up when Taylor stepped over to her, putting one hand against the counter next to her, leaning down to whisper into her ear like he often did in public, usually to give her orders no one was to overhear._

_"I could kill that kid" he told her quietly and she lowered her head to hide her smirk, amused how his words were mirroring her own thoughts._

_"Just cut it short and we can go back to bed" she whispered back, enjoying the way he tensed when her lips brushed against his neck._

_"I can´t, Wash, I need to question the kid."_

_"I know but I don't have to like it, do I."_

_She stepped away from him and began pacing, only looking up again when Dr. Shannon had managed to prey the girl out of their hiding place and Taylor put a tray with food down onto the table._

_She hung back, watching the scene unfold and wondering how anyone could be so patient with a willful child but then the Shannons had three of those themselves, perhaps it was simply something one grew into once it was necessary._

_Taylor was acting differently towards the girl, more businesslike, less like a parent and Wash couldn´t help but feel reminded of the way he had acted around his son when Lucas had been little, her CO had never been comfortable around children, always treated them like adults but with Leah it seemed to work, at least she was talking now._

_She helped Jim stop the girl from running away again, hoping that this whole babysitting session would be over soon, she had never even thought about having children herself and she didn't particularly like them, either._

_Elisabeth took the girl into the next room to run some more tests, the commander motioning for Shannon to follow her before he reached for Alicia´s arm, pulling her to him and bringing his lips to her ear._

_"I´ll persuade the Shannon´s to take her in for the night, you go home and get out of these clothes."_

_"Yes, Sir" she chuckled softly, only loud enough for him to hear and felt his hand tighten around her arm before he had himself back under control and was walking over to where the Shannon´s were while Wash made her way out of the infirmary._

_Reilly was still waiting outside and she dismissed the young woman with a nod, then pulled her hair tie out of her ponytail, letting the dark mass fall over her back, the night´s tension giving way for the familiar feeling of anticipation pooling low in her belly._

"Did the Shannons take her home with them?"

Wash asked when Taylor entered the bedroom and the commander nodded while starting to undress.

"Didn´t take much convincing on my part, pushovers."

He pulled the covers from Wash´s body and pulled her to him, smiling when she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"What?" She pressed up against him, "you promised we´d continue exactly where we stopped earlier."

"I´m not arguing."

Alicia´s head fell back against the pillows when he entered her with a quick thrust and their lips met in a deep kiss as they pushed each other towards their release.

Finally she was lying on his chest, her eyes closed, her body quivering with tiny aftershocks.

"This is like doing drugs, once you´ve started, you can´t stop again."

He chuckled.

"Didn´t know you´d done drugs, Wash."

"It was just a figure of speech."

She snuggled against him while he played with her hair, running his fingers through the long tresses and smoothing them out, making them fawn across his shoulder.

"You cuddle" he told her, sounding amused and she dug his fingernails into his chest, making him wince.

"Shut up, Sir" she yawned, relaxing into his embrace, the steady sound of his heartbeat lulling her to sleep.

_"I missed you when I woke up."_

_Taylor leaned against the kitchen counter, looking amused as he watched his lieutenant pour coffee into a cup._

_"I have to go and find a dirty pack" Wash shrugged, glancing at her watch._

_"Who you´re taking?_

_"Dunham."_

_"You´re sure? Kid might get scared."_

_"We´ll practically be in sight of the gate, there´s not much that can happen to us, besides he´s a good man, he just needs more experience."_

_She put her mug down and reached for her body armor and rifle, then looked back up at her CO._

_"You should try and talk to the girl, find out if she knows something about Mira´s hiding place."_

_"Don´t sound so eager, Wash, I doubt you´ll have to go looking for Mira, she´ll be back here."_

_"Undoubtedly- I´ll go now, see you later."_

_"Take care, Wash."_

_"Will do."_

_She brushed past him, sighing in exasperation when his hand closed around her wrist._

_"Taylor, I have to-" His lips on her´s shut her off effectively and she couldn´t resist kissing him back despite really wanting to be on time for her meeting with Dunham._

_"Wouldn´t leave without saying goodbye properly."_

_He let go of her and Wash straightened her armor before looking back up at him._

_"Never took you for a romantic, Sir."_

_"You´re bringing out the very best in me, Wash- now get out of here and come back in one piece."_

_"Yes, Sir."_

The pain in her head was almost unbearable and Wash had to force herself to remain quiet as she tried to remember what had happened to her.

Finally realizing that she had been kidnapped by the Sixers, Alicia remained perfectly still, not wanting to alert anyone to her being conscious, following Taylor´s usual protocol.

"Stop faking, Washington, I know you´re awake, I didn´t hit you that hard."

Wash opened her eyes, looking up at Mira who was standing over her, gun in hand.

"Now that´s better- Taylor´s nice little tricks won´t do you any good here, I know all about them."

Wash sat up slowly, wincing.

"I highly doubt that- what do you want, Mira and where´s my soldier?"

"Alive, probably even conscious by now- I want the girl and you´re going to help me getting her back."

"I am?"

Mira slapped her across the face and Alicia felt her lip split open, her head throbbing.

"Why don´t you untie my hands and try that again" Wash hissed but Mira just shrugged.

"You should be grateful I didn´t leave Carter up here with you, wouldn´t have been much left of you to take back to Taylor afterwards."

"Cut the crap, Mira, you don´t scare me."

She knew provoking Mira wasn´t the smartest thing to do but Wash had never been good in keeping her temper under control, it was one of her few flaws and right now she didn´t particularly care, all she wanted was to get her hands free and strangle the other woman.

"Fine, let´s get down to business then- I want Leah back, I know you captured her in the woods yesterday."

"Of course you do, you know a lot of things you´re not supposed to know."

"Yeah, well, that´s your problem, isn´t it- it´s funny, really, the infamous Lieutenant Washington can´t figure out where we get our information."

Wash rolled her eyes.

"You´re such a drama queen, Mira, just take us back to the colony and see what happens."

Alicia wasn´t really concerned about her situation, she was sure that Mira wouldn´t kill her, she needed her to exchange her for the girl after all.

"Not so fast, I want to know a few things first."

Wash almost laughed and some of her amusement must have shown on her face because Mira´s eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What´s funny about that, you think I couldn't get you to talk?"

"Yes, I think that- do your worst, Mira."

"Perhaps I´ll get Carter up to help me, he´d love that."

"Yeah, well, he already tried a few times, up to now it didn´t work too well- can the chatter, Mira, I don't have all day."

"One of these days that big mouth of your´s will get you into serious trouble, Washington."

Mira sounded impressed and Wash understood where the other woman was coming from, she had always been foolishly brave in situations like that, almost to a fault, provoking her opponents into hurting her more than they might have intended but then she had been trained by a man who didn´t believe in giving in whatever the circumstances and she had taken the lesson to heart.

"Bring it on or take me back, your choice."

"Fine, I`ll take you back- for now."

_Wash´s eyes met her CO´s and she saw his jaw tightening as he observed her bruised cheek and split lip and she gave him an impatient glare, telling him silently to stop worrying about her and concentrate on the matter at hand._

_She felt almost sorry for Mark Reynolds who was watching her as though expecting her to drop dead to the ground at any moment, she briefly glanced at him warningly and the concern on his face melted into a blank expression as he focussed on the Sixers instead._

_Just like Wash had expected, Taylor refused to give in first and Mira didn´t argue but gave them free, stilling Carter´s protest with a well placed look towards her second._

_Thinking that it was rather interesting that Mira still trusted Taylor´s word enough to believe he´d keep his end of the bargain she impatiently walked right past Mira and the commander and past Terra Nova´s first line of defense, exchanging a glance with her CO as he instructed Jim Shannon to get the girl, brushing away the concern of her comrades._

_If there was anything Alicia Washington despised, apart from Mira and her group of terrorists, it was pity, she´d need to push the units even harder in the next few weeks to win back the respect she´d held before the Sixers had captured her, no matter how long she had held her own, her reputation would suffer and especially after she had started sleeping with her CO and couldn´t be sure how many people knew about that, it was the last things she needed._

_Taylor glanced in the direction of the infirmary and Alicia merely shook her head, she would stand her ground until Mira had left and she was glad that Taylor accepted her decision without comment._

_Shannon brought the girl outside and while Wash watched the scene unfold, she had the feeling that something was off, Mira seemed to give in too quickly today, both now and earlier when she had just released the second of command of her enemy´s forces without even trying to access any information Wash could have given her._

_She listened with grim satisfaction when Taylor threatened Mira with war, then waited for him as the other soldiers filed back inside the gate._

_"Reynolds, take Dunham to the infirmary" she called after Mark who smiled back at her before accompanying his younger comrade inside and Wash turned to Taylor._

_"Do you want my report now or shall I hand it in later, Sir."_

_"You can tell me about it later, Lieutenant, right now you will go to the infirmary as well."_

_His tone didn´t leave any room for discussions and to be honest, Wash didn´t have much fight left in her, she was tired an frustrated and her split lip was stinging, the dried blood uncomfortable sticky against her skin._

_"Yes, Sir."_

_She began walking towards the infirmary with the commander next to her, Shannon following with Leah._

_"I need to talk to Shannon, I´ll meet you at command in thirty."_

_"Sir."_

_She nodded at him, then entered the infirmary and walked up to the bed Dunham was currently sitting on._

_"Is he all right?"_

_She asked, watching Elisabeth Shannon run a scanner over the young man´s chest._

_"He´s fine, just a bit bruised."_

_"Holding up ok, Dunham?"_

_"Yes, Ma´am" he told her but she could tell that the incident had shocked him._

_"When the doctor released you, you´ll go straight to bed and rest, you hear me?"_

_"Yes, Ma´am."_

_He looked relieved while Dr. Shannon frowned at Alicia._

_"You look much worse than he does, what did they to do you?"_

_"Nothing much, I´ve had far worse, I can clean the lip up myself if you´re busy."_

_"That´s not necessary, I hear you´re a brilliant medic but in here we have people to do it for you, just go and sit down, I´ll be with you in just a moment."_

_After she had been pronounced well enough to return to work by Elisabeth Shannon, Wash took a quick shower and changed into clean clothes before making her way over to the command center._

_She found her CO with Guzman and Mark Reynolds, the former avoiding her eyes, things had been strained between them ever since their night at Boylan´s._

_Mark on the other hand was still looking concerned but relaxed when he had looked her upside down and noticed nothing worse than the half healed cut on her lip._

_"Lieutenant, have a seat."_

_Taylor motioned her over to the conference table and Wash sat down, facing the commander who was already seated._

_"Are you feeling all right?"_

_"I´m fine, Sir, checked declared me fit for duty, I sent Dunham home to sleep."_

_"In that case I´d like to hear what happened."_

_"Not much to tell, Sir, we were ambushed, Dunham got tripped and knocked out, I was attacked, fought a few of them off before Mira hit me over the head with her gun._

_When I came to she told me she´d exchange us for the girl, we were blindfolded and taken back here and the rest you know."_

_"Hm- didn´t she say anything else?"_

_"The usual crap, she threatened to keep me for interrogation but gave up when I didn´t look impressed."_

_"Right then- Reynolds, you check on your comrade, make sure he´s ok."_

_The young man left with a last smile to Alicia and the commander turned to Guzman._

_Guz, I want more people on the towers in case Mira´s planning something else- Wash, you go home, too, get some rest, I´ll check in on you later._

_"Yes, Sir."_

_Guzman looked from Taylor to Wash and back again, then seemed to decide that they were acting perfectly normal and left as well, Alicia following at a slower pace._

"I´m going to kill her" Taylor spat, his fist connecting with the kitchen counter, making Alicia flinch.

"Calm down, I´m fine."

"You are not fine, you are beaten up, your lip is split and she knocked you out, you are not fine."

Wash got up from the sofa and stepped up behind him, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist and kissed his shoulder, feeling the tension leave him at the contact.

"Nathaniel, I´ve been stabbed, shot and burned before and this is nothing in compare so calm down."

He turned around in her embrace and closed his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest, burying his face in her hair.

"She took my girl."

His lips brushed against her temple, his hands slipping underneath her top, caressing the skin on the small of her back.

"She took my girl and she gave her back to me all battered and bruised, so don´t expect me to be ok with that."

Wash sighed, entangling herself from his arms and stepping away from him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"She didn't took your girl, Taylor, she took your Lieutenant."

He looked up, his eyes narrowing as he observed her, his arms coming up to cross over his chest as well, mimicking her stance.

"And what the hell is the difference in that?"

"The difference is that you don´t get to be upset about her taking your Lieutenant because she´s at war."

Taylor´s jaw clenched but Alicia wasn´t going to back down, she needed to get her point across now if she wanted them to have a future together.

"What she did was the same thing we used to do when we had the opportunity because exchanging hostages is much less messy than going in and trying to take what you want by force.

You used to tell me not to take these things personally, you always said that both sides had their reasons and that we had to accept that."

"Damn it, Wash, I don´t care what her reasons were, I could have lost you out there, I told you to go and-"

Wash held up her hand, silencing him.

"Ok, listen to me. You can´t protect me, I´m a soldier, we both knew there would be risks when we signed up for this."

He just looked at her for a moment, then he leaned back against the counter, relaxing as he nodded.

"I was the one to recommend you for promotions and it was me who asked you to come here with me and I´ll be responsible if something happens to you."

Wash stepped back over to him, leaning against the counter next to Taylor.

"I hate that I can´t protect you, too- when you were standing there earlier they all had their weapons trained on you and you hadn´t even drawn your´s and there was nothing I could do."

"I had twenty men behind me, Alicia, you were the one standing right next to Mira, tied up with Carter pointing his rifle at your head."

"Ok, I admit Carter might have been personal but other than that it was nothing but a perfectly normal hostage situation."

"Which, unfortunately, included the woman I love."

Alicia closed her eyes, his stubbornness was driving her insane.

"Out there I am the second in command of Terra Nova´s military force, I can take it, Taylor, I´m not a goddamn damsel in distress."

He looked at her.

"That is what this is about? You think I´m not taking you seriously?"

"No" she screamed at him, her frustration getting the better of her.

"It´s you being completely irrational and it´s stupid and dangerous and I don´t want you risking your life for me where you wouldn´t risk it for anyone else! It´s my job to risk my life for you, not the other way around, if there was a situation where you would have to abandon me to save yourself, would you do it?"

"No."

His voice was calm, controlled and Wash didn´t doubt the sincerity of his answer.

"But you have to- you have to leave me behind, just as I have to sacrifice myself to save you, when we´re out there, there´s no room for you being protective of me because you love me, when we´re out there, it´s me who´s going to take a bullet for you and you who is going to hide behind me, understood?"

She didn't fight him when he pulled her back into his arms, she was tired and aching all over and all she wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep.

"I understand what my lieutenant is telling me and she´s right."

"I hear a big ´but coming."

"But it might be a problem to remember that next time I see you in danger."

Wash leaned her head against Taylor´s shoulder, too tired to fight any more.

"Fine, whatever, let´s talk about it some other time, I really want to sleep."


	8. Chapter 8

Not mine, as usual…

Thanks for the reviews, guys :D

metube: Nice pic ;) So like I already said, I´ll come up with something to alter the finale- I didn´t do that on purpose, actually but you´re right, it does remind me of that as well, apparently it simply fits them.

CapeCodMakai: Cheers- don´t worry, won´t do, sex is boring to write but it goes with the story, so I had to include some M rated scene- back to basics in the next parts, there´ll be less cuddling and much more angst as the season progresses.

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Wash woke in the middle of the night to find Taylor sitting up against the headboard, her head in his lap while he was stroking her hair.

"Why aren´t you sleeping?"

She asked, turning onto her back to look up at him, a soft sigh escaping her lips when his fingertips fluttered against her bruised cheek, the touch featherlight, far too gentle for him.

"I love you" he told her, still caressing her face, "it scares me how much."

"I love you, too" Wash recognized the look in his eyes, the deep sorrow tinged with desperation, she had seen it before, when she had been lying in his arms, dying.

She sat up and straddled his lap, his arms closing around her waist, pulling her tightly against his chest as she cupped his face in her hands.

"Do you remember what you told me that night you thought you were back there?"

She didn't need to tell him what she was talking about, he knew her well enough.

"I do- I felt so confused, nothing made sense, you had bled out in my arms, I had lost you and there you were, perfectly fine and all I could think of was that you had betrayed me."

He tried to turn his gaze away from her but she wouldn´t let him.

"You did listen to me, you remembered to trust me in the end."

"I tried to kill myself, over Ayani, when you were standing right in front of me, I can´t even begin to imagine how much I hurt you."

She put her forehead against his and wrapped her arms around his neck, needing to feel as close as possible to him, searching for the right words to reassure him.

"You loved her, you spend that whole day searching for her and I told you she was already dead and you couldn´t understand why I was there instead, it was too much to deal with, you´re only human, Nathaniel."

"Back there, when you got shot, there was so much blood, it seemed impossible for you to survive and I didn´t want to leave you, I almost gave up on them right there to go with you, if you hadn´t told me to go, I don't think I would have."

Wash pulled back a little to look at him, it was unusual for them to talk so much but they both needed it and now was as good a time as any.

"I never knew you realized how I felt about you, I would have been horrified if I´d thought she knew."

"She didn´t blame you, she told me I was corrupting a young, innocent girl and that I should be ashamed of myself and she was right, I took you and trained you and moulded me into my personal idea of a perfect soldier and I nearly lost you for the second time today because I gave you an order and sent you right into a death trap."

"I´m not going anywhere, I´m right here, stop beating yourself up."

She knew what he was feeling, survivor´s guilt was familiar to all soldiers and right now it didn´t matter that she wasn´t actually dead, he was blaming himself for having sent her out into danger.

"I wanted to go, we couldn´t have foreseen Mira acting this way, from what the girl told us she didn´t care much about her in the first place."

"I should have stuck with my decision to keep you inside the gate."

He kissed her gently, careful not to split her lip open again.

"Nathaniel, we´ve talked about this, you can´t keep me here to protect me and I don´t want you to, I love my job, you love it, too, we both were unhappy after Somalia when we were doing desk work."

"I liked the desk work, desk work doesn´t get people killed, if it had been up to me, you would have stayed at a desk for the rest of your life.

Besides, what are you complaining about, you got to train recruits at the academy, I was the one planning campaigns and approving of protocols and being bored out of my mind."

"You´re right, I had some good times with the kids, glad you asked me to come here with you, though, I don't think I could live without you and I don´t want to find out."

Taylor eased Wash back down onto the mattress and stretched out next to her before pulling her head onto is chest.

"Let´s hope you won´t have to- now go back to sleep, this whole talking concept is downright exhausting."

_Wash looked herself upside down critically in the mirror, her cheek was still bruised and her lip was stinging uncomfortably but it would have to do._

_After she had pulled her hair up into it´s usual ponytail, Wash walked over into the kitchen where she found the commander pouring coffee into two mugs._

_"Morning, Lieutenant" he smiled at her, handing her a mug and she smirked back at him._

_"Sir."_

_He leaned back against the counter, observing her intensely, his smile making way for a slight frown._

_"Are you sure you should work? You can take the day off, rest up a little."_

_"I have a survival class to teach, what´s on your agenda for today?"_

_"I´m meeting Shannon at command in an hour, we need to find out who tipped Mira off."_

_"Any idea how to do that?"_

_"We´ll start with checking the people who came through with the sixth again, see if we have missed anything."_

Wash had just dismissed her class when her CO made his way towards her, his face grim.

"What´s wrong?"

"One of Malcolm´s men came through with the sixth, Shannon and me went out to him, asked a few questions, then Malcolm turned up, told us off for assuming guilt by association, I´m telling you, the guy´s getting on my nerves."

She fell into step next to him, waiting for him to stop ranting as they walked towards the command center.

"And do you think the guy is in contact with the Sixers?"

"No, I don´t think so but that´s not for Malcolm to decide."

They had reached the office and Wash closed the door, not wanting to be overheard by anyone.

"Any other leads?"

"Not yet but I will find out."

Taylor growled, his eyes flashing angrily.

"This isn´t still about me, is it" Wash asked and could instantly tell by the way his jaw clenched that she was right.

"Look, if you want to find the spy, fine.

If this is still about someone having the audacity to mess with your woman, then please let it go."

"Damn it, Wash, this is serious, I know you´re willing to die for me, what I want to know is if you´re wiling to put some effort into living for me and right now it seems the first option is more desirable to you than the second."

She didn't know how to reply to that accusation, usually it was him who threw himself into danger and she who had to tolerate it and it was simply absurd that he would get so worked up the one time their positions were reversed.

He stepped closer to her, his fingers closing around her chin, gently but firmly forcing her to look up into his eyes.

"I don´t think you actually understand what you mean to me, do you."

As much as his words moved her, Wash felt it was time to establish a line in their relationship, or rather reestablish it for she believed they had had that particular talk before.

"With all due respect, Sir but I believe we decided to talk about personal matters after our shifts are over."

She told him, not missing the hint of displeasure in his blue eyes but he released her all the same and rounded his desk, sitting down in his office chair.

Wash´s radio crackled and she answered it, listening to Guzman as he told her about a break in at Mira´s old house.

After exchanging an alarmed look with her CO, Wash hurried out of the command center, looking for Jim Shannon and finally she found him near the fence, talking to Mark Reynolds who looked slightly crestfallen.

She interrupted the conversation by telling Shannon about the break in, then briskly walked away in direction of the housing units with detective following her and it was only minutes later that they realized that Mira had once again gotten the better of them.

They caught the girl just in time and Wash couldn´t help but be impressed by the kid, shame she was a Sixer or they could have used her in their security detail once she´d have grown up a little.

Leaving Leah with Reilly on the balcony outside Taylor´s office Wash followed Shannon inside, leaving it to Jim to explain about the girl´s real intentions.

Taylor didn´t look happy and Wash could sympathize with him, her CO liked to believe in his ability to judge people and being proved wrong by a nine year old wasn´t exactly his idea of a perfect morning.

Wash watched the two men examining the box Shannon had taken out of the girl´s bag but neither could figure out what the strange container was, Leah didn´t seem to know either when they questioned her about it and Alicia felt sorry for the girl who was struggling against her iron grip when she dragged her out of the office again.

"I´m telling the truth" Leah told her as she followed her over to the barracks, "really, Mira has Sam, I need to take the box back to her."

The kid was actually crying now as Wash lead her to a small room next to the women´s changing room.

"Look, what you did was wrong, you get that?"

The girl nodded, her cheeks flushed, tears still running down her face.

Wash sat down next to her on the bed, for some reason she felt the need to explain to the child that Mira´s way to do things wasn´t the only one, even though the lesson would probably be lost on the little Sixer.

"You could have told us, we would have tried to come up with a plan, sometimes talking is much better than doing something rash."

Leah looked up at her, her big blue eyes pleading with Wash to help her but Alicia wasn´t sure how to do it.

Acting on a sudden impulse she pulled the child into her lap, surprised when Lean snuggled close to her and wrapped her arms around her neck, her face buried in Wash´s neck.

"I´m sorry" the little girl sobbed, arms tightening around Wash´s neck, "you´ve been so nice to me and I lied to you."

Not really sure what she had done to gain so much affection, Wash held the child to her, soothingly stroking the blond curls until she felt Leah relax against her and finally she realized the girl had fallen asleep.

Brilliant, now she´d either have to sit here until the kid woke up again or she´d have to move her and probably would wake her up in the process.

Deciding that she might just let her sleep for a while, Wash settled back against the wall, thinking that the warm weight in her arms was strangely comforting, not at all uncomfortable and a small smile formed on her face as she realized that she enjoyed holding the little girl.

_"Hey, Wash."_

_She looked up at her CO´s quiet words, she hadn´t heard him coming, immersed in playing with Leah´s blonde hair._

_Taylor smiled down at her and the girl, shaking his head in amusement._

_"I never took you for the maternal type, you know" he chuckled softly, then added "I don't know if you realized it but she likes you, she´ll want to be just like you when she gets older."_

_"Hopefully not on Mira´s side" Wash mused, her voice quiet, trying not to wake the sleeping child._

_"What are we going to do about her brother?"_

_She asked, looking up at Taylor._

_"Don´t worry about that, Shannon stole a rover and knowing Mira she´ll give up the boy, two orphaned kids are no use to her."_

_"You think Shannon will be ok?"_

_Taylor shrugged._

_"He thinks he´s tough enough to go out there alone, he´s touch enough to deal with Mira on his own, too- if he´s not back tonight, I´ll go out and get him back."_

_"Good- was there anything you wanted?"_

_"Actually yes, until Shannon gets back there´s nothing much to do so I thought we could go home for a while, have that talk- unless you want to continue playing house, of course."_

_"You want to play, too?"_

_She smirked while carefully shifting the child to lie next to her, trying not to wake her._

_"I think I pass- I´ll get Reilly to stay with her."_

_They waited for the younger woman to arrive, then instructed her to let Leah sleep and keep her in the room when she woke up until they could figure out what to do with the girl._

"Look, I get that you can look after yourself."

"Do you?"

Wash looked up at him, feeling doubtful, up to now his behavior hadn´t exactly boosted her confidence in his sentiment.

"Sure, you´re not my lieutenant for nothing."

"Good to know, in that case, could you stop babying me? I really don´t need it from you."

Taylor didn't look happy but nodded all the same.

"Fine, I´ll do my best- you have anything to eat?"

"In the fridge, help yourself- how long has Shannon´s been gone?"

The commander smirked while opening her fridge.

"Don´t tell me you´re worried about him."

"Of course not, I´m worried about the rover, we don't have many left" Wash replied smoothly, then added "I really hope he´ll find the boy."

"So you believe the girl, don´t you."

"Yeah, I suppose I do- damn, I´m going soft."

Taylor chuckled.

"Looks like you are."

Wash´s radio interrupted them and she took it out of her pocket, pressing the reply button.

"Washington."

"Hey Wash, it´s Guz, is the commander there with you?"

"Depends on what you want" she said lightly, glancing at Taylor who shrugged.

"Fine, he´s here."

"Good- Shannon just checked in, he´s on his way and he has the boy."

"Copy that- thanks, Guz."

"Welcome, Wash."

Wash turned the radio off, then turned back to her CO.

"Shannon´s on the way back in, he has the boy."

"Not as hopeless as you think" he joked while handing her a few pieces of cut fruit.

"I´ll go and meet him, wanna come?"

"No, I don´t think so, I´ve had my dose of annoying cop for today, I´ll go and check on Leah and her brother later."

Wash was leaning in the doorframe, watching the two siblings hug with a smile on her face.

"Cute, isn´t it" Reilly asked and Alicia nodded.

"Yeah, it is- you have any siblings?"

"A sister, she´s older than me, we weren´t close."

Leah looked up and at the sight of Alicia she let go of her brother and ran over to hug the lieutenant instead.

"Hey, kid, don´t get all teary on me again" Wash warned her teasingly, then walked over to the bed with the girl and sat down, looking at the little boy.

"So you must be Sam, I´m Lieutenant Washington."

"Hi" the boy whispered, smiling shyly while Leah pulled at Wash´s sleeve.

"Can you take me to say thank you to Mr. Shannon, please?"

"Ok, sure- Reilly, can you take Sam to the shower room and organize some clothes for him, they can both sleep here tonight."

"Yes, Ma´am."

Reilly took the little boy away and Alicia got up from the bed, looking at Leah.

_"You coming?"_

_"Can you braid my hair?"_

_The question took Wash by surprise._

_"What?"_

_"Please, I want to look nice and I can´t do it myself- yet" Leah added, sounding a bit reluctant._

_Amused, Wash sat back down again and pulled the girl onto her lap._

_"Don´t move" she advised her, then began to part the soft blonde hair before braiding it neatly, finally nudging Leah off her lab to get up again._

_"There, all done."_

_"Thanks" The girl beamed up at her, reaching for her jacket and pulling it on before taking Wash´s hand._

After taking Leah back to her brother, Wash checked on the watchtowers where she met Guzman who was once again in charge of securing the main gate.

"Hey."

She stepped up to him, smiling lightly, testing the waters.

"Wash- what are you doing out here, you´re off duty, aren´t you."

"Just wanted to see if everything´s all right."

The double meaning in her words wasn´t lost on her comrade and for a moment he just looked at her, then he nodded.

"I guess so- you look nice with your hair down, it suits you."

"Well, can´t wear it down on duty."

There was a pause, then Guzman asked "So you and Taylor, uh?"

"Yeah, me and Taylor- are you really surprised?"

He shook his head.

"No, not really, I was there when you were wounded, remember?"

"Not exactly, no- sorry."

"That´s ok, I saw him, though, he was so devastated I though that we´d loose him, too, if you didn´t make it, took him a rather long time, actually."

"It´s complicated."

"It sure is- does anyone know, except for me?"

"Not officially and I´d like to keep it that way."

"Don´t worry, I won´t tell anyone, I´m glad you´re happy, you deserve it."

They looked up at the sound of familiar footsteps, Guzman standing to attention, Wash smiling as Taylor joined them.

"Hey Guz" Taylor greeted, then turned towards Alicia.

"You´re ready to go?"

He asked and she nodded, her hand briefly brushing his as she followed him towards the housing units.

"I was at the lab, Malcolm still has no idea about the box, it´s making me nervous."

"Are you sure it´s Mira´s?"

He bit his lip.

"I know what you are thinking, I´m thinking the same so let´s pray it really is Mira´s."


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone, sorry it took me so long to update, I was busy with work and had some problems with my internet connection over the weekend.

The following chapter will contain spoilers for Bylaw and have a little Wash/Boylan interaction because they are just fun to write together.

metube: Thank you very much for reviewing and for liking the sickening sweet parts ;)

Enjoy :)

* * *

"Wash."

She looked up from the commander´s desk, taking in the serious expression on Guzman´s face.

"What´s wrong?"

"I´ve lost contact with Foster, he checked in at 0500, haven´t heard from him since."

"You´ve had any communication problems out that way?"

"Not at all and Foster´s a good man, he´d have checked in if he could."

Wash nodded, reaching for her own communication device.

"This is command, come in, please."

"Copying, Wash, what do you need?"

"Guzman lost contact with Foster three hours ago, last time he checked in he was at 19-A, are you anywhere near there?"

"About an hour, we´ll check on him, Taylor out."

Wash looked up at Guzman again, his worried expression mirroring her own.

"I´ll go back to the comm center and try again, I´ll let you know if I hear anything."

"Ok, thanks."

Wash gave up on her paperwork ten minutes after Guzman´s departure and made her way outside, sitting around and waiting had never been her favorite way to spend her time.

After checking on all the watchtowers she finally arrived back at the gate when her radio came to life.

"Wash, you´re there?"

"Copy, Sir."

"Foster is dead."

"What?"

She had seen the young man the day before when she had submitted her unit to an extracurricular training session, had heard him joking around with Reynolds and now he was dead?

"I´m sorry, looks like he´s been attacked by a Nyko, we´ll go have a look around now and then come back ASAP."

"Ok."

She made her way back up command slowly, trying to comprehend what she had just heard, finally taking her radio out and contacting Mark.

"Come up to command, I need to talk to you."

The boy was already waiting for her when she arrived and Wash led him inside, pointing to a chair at the conference table.

"Did I do something?"

"No, you didn´t- Mark, I´m sorry, Foster is dead, apparently a Nyko attack."

The young man didn't say anything for a long time and Alicia didn´t pressure him, the boys had been good friends and she knew from experience how rare it was to find that kind of connection in a community like their´s.

"I offered to go with him" Mark finally said, looking up at his CO with a desperate expression.

"He said I should spend my free evening with Maddy instead."

"Don´t do this, Mark, don´t blame yourself, it´s natural but it isn´t your fault, it was an accident."

Wash put her hand on the young corporal´s shoulder, squeezing it gently before walking over to Taylor´s desk, deciding to give Mark some time alone while she distracted herself with the leftover paperwork.

_When the commander came back, Wash had sent Reynolds off to tell the rest of his unit about their comrade´s death and was standing near the gate, waiting._

_Taylor got out first, briefly touching Wash´s arm before motioning for her to follow him back up into the office._

_"It was a mess, blood everywhere, the body is completely mangled- have you talked to your boys?"_

_"I talked to Reynolds."_

_"How´d he take it?"_

_"Not too well, they were friends, he offered to go out there with him yesterday."_

_"So now he feels guilty."_

_Taylor observed, the coping mechanism familiar to him and to Alicia._

_"He´ll be ok, I´ll check on him later- is there enough left of Foster to bury?"_

_"Yeah, we´ll get to that tomorrow- how´s the paperwork coming along?"_

_"I´m finished, it wasn´t much, so what do we do now?"_

_"Waiting for Shannon, he´ll be back here with the Doc´s report."_

_The man in question entered the room at that moment, announcing that Foster´s death had by no means been an accident but murder._

_Taylor looked crestfallen and Alicia wished Shannon gone so she could comfort her CO, he was putting on a facade for Shannon but Wash could see right through it._

_Wash lead the way out of command with Shannon trailing behind her, catching up when they reached the bottom of the steps._

_"So where do you think they are?"_

_"Boylan´s."_

_"Hm- are you ok, I mean he was a member of your unit."_

_"I´ve lost a lot of men, Shannon, I can handle it, I´m more worried about the boys, especially when we tell them that he was murdered."_

_"You´re taking your job seriously, don´t you, you feel responsible for them."_

_Wash glanced at the man next to her, shrugging._

_"A good CO should always feel responsible for the soldiers and I´ve learned from the best."_

_"Taylor- how long have you been serving under him?"_

_"Eighteen years."_

_"Wow, that´s a long time- you were what, sixteen?"_

_"Seventeen and yes, it´s been a long time."_

_"So when you were shot-"_

_"It´s been eleven years, if that´s what you want to know."_

_Their conversation was cut short by their arrival at the bar and Wash led the way inside, ignoring Boylan´s sly smile while looking around for her boys, she spotted them at a table at the back and walked over to them, leaving it to Shannon to explain the situation._

_Wash could hardly hold back a smile when Reynolds admitted to hacking into his dog tag, they all did it of course but the boy was embarrassed to admit that he was breaking the rules all the same._

_They bid the soldiers goodbye and left and as soon as they were outside, Shannon came up with the question Wash had been waiting for._

_"So what´s on your tag?"_

_"That´s for me to know and for you to remain ignorant about" she replied airily, marching towards the infirmary._

_"Come on, give me a hint."_

_"Shannon, let´s just get Foster´s tag and forget about mine."_

"Can you go any slower?"

Wash looked over at Shannon impatiently, frowning when the man looked rather amused than intimidated.

"Sorry, Lieutenant, not everyone is as crazy as you and Taylor are- you´re welcome to switch places if you don´t trust me."

"Thanks, I take that as a complement and no, if something attacks us I´d rather try and shoot it than run it over."

"Good point, you are the best shot after all, you can´t have both."

Taylor´s voice interrupted the, asking if they had eyes on the target and a moment later they spotted the animal and began chasing it towards the tree line.

Wash was first into the wood, Taylor and Shannon right behind her as they looked around for their target, Shannon anxiously asking if they were going to kill the Nyko.

Thinking that her CO´d better stop sounding so damn pleased with himself for getting an injury that had required sixty seven stitches, Wash remained indifferent to Taylor´s praises, then the Nyko startled them all, hurled itself past Jim and scrambled up a tree.

"Where´d it go?"

Wash looked up at the tree wearily.

"How long can he stay up there?"

She should have known that Shannon would find something to annoy her with in her question.

"Anywhere you need to be, Lieutenant?"

She felt Taylor´s amused gaze on her and decided to pay Shannon back for his insolence, telling him that she´d rather not be there when the sun set, hiding her smile when he nervously inquired how long the Nyko actually might be able to stay up in the tree.

The Nyko spared them from answering by jumping back down and attempting to disappear into the undergrowth, it was blocked from Wash´s view by the tree but Taylor got a clear shot and hit the animal in the side.

Wash was the first to reach it, throwing herself into danger before her CO had a chance to do so had become a habit she had adapted to perfectly over the years.

Hunting a dinosaur and cutting it open had easily been the most fun Wash had had in weeks, she enjoyed being outside, especially in the company of Taylor, she could hardly remember the last time they had left the colony together.

The whole mission was bloody and dirty and Wash felt finally alive again.

She stitched the animal up and washed off the blood, thinking that Taylor was going rather far to humor Shannon, there wasn´t a chance that the Nyko would wake up before he got attacked and eaten by his own species, anyway.

"Wash, you come with me this time, I wanna talk about that woman."

"Sure, Sir- see you, Shannon, don´t get lost on the way back."

"Cheers, Wash, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Why is he always so cheery?"

Wash asked, irritation audible in her voice as she followed her CO over to his rover.

"No idea, must be a genetic quirk."

"Probably."

Taylor started the engine and followed Shannon back towards the colony.

"So what about the woman, then?"

"Her name´s Rebecca Millner, I don't know much about her, she´s friendly, pretty, the guys like her- I didn´t know about her and Foster, you know I´d have talked to him about it."

"Yeah, well- you know the husband, too?"

"No, I heard he´s older than her but nothing specific."

Taylor looked thoughtful.

"Might be one of those couples winning the lottery- or just him winning the lottery, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, sure- I´ll make sure to ask her about it."

"You do that, I´ll be up at command planning the funeral, you two report back to me straight after talking to Mrs. Millner."

They had arrived inside the gate and Wash led the way over to the Millner´s house, Jim Shannon following her.

Wash left the talking to Shannon and looked around instead, quickly noticing a picture frame an one of the shelves and reached up to activate it, not at all surprised when it turned out to hold the lottery notification.

She had seen that phenomenon before and probably would see it again, Shannon on the other hand looked irritated and started to question the woman about her marriage while Wash watched, noticing with interest how defensive the other woman was getting.

They were interrupted by the husband who acted as passive aggressive as his wife and within minutes had admitted to killing Foster, his wife staring at him incredulously as Shannon lead him outside.

They walked the man up to the command center where the met Taylor who beckoned Wash to follow him outside while Shannon led Millner towards the conference table.

"The husband?"

Taylor asked, his voice icy.

"Yes, Sir, he confessed killing Foster, you were right, it´s a lottery marriage."

Taylor ran his hand through his hair, then nodded.

"I want to know everything, how he did it, how he knew Foster would be there, how he hacked the pad- make him sweat, Wash."

"Will do, Sir."

She left him outside and went back into the office, joining Shannon in the back.

Millner´s explanation sounded perfectly plausible, if a little emotionless but then of course he had just confessed murdering another man in a most brutal way.

While Shannon took Millner into the brig, Taylor reentered the office and joined his lieutenant at the desk where Wash was powering up the screen, stepping behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

She leaned her head against his shoulder, her eyes fluttering shut when his lips brushed against her neck.

"I really can´t believe this, when did it all start to fall apart?"

She didn't reply, there wasn´t anything to say.

He pressed a soft kiss to her jaw, then let go of her and Wash brushed past him, leaving the office to wait for Shannon on the balcony outside.

Together they stood in silence unlit the commander joined them, his expression somber.

"You were right. It was murder."

He turned to her and she turned to face him, watching him with her hands behind her back.

"Lieutenant Washington knows, I expect my people to adhere to a strict code of honor. For one of them to get involved with a married Terra Novan, that´s not just frowned upon, I won´t tolerate it. But Foster didn't deserve to die for it."

Wash briefly looked up into his eyes when he walked past her, catching the expression there, she sighed, looking at her shoes before turning to face towards memorial field as well.

Taylor was looking at her when he informed Shannon about the bylaws and the decision he would have to make, stating that he couldn´t recall ever having made a tougher one, then he walked back into the office while Wash tried to fight the feeling of nausea threatening to overwhelm her as she thought back to all the other tough decisions in her CO`s life- his wife, his son, his mentor- and her.

"You´re ok?"

Shannon´s voice got her out of her reverie and she nodded briskly, straightening up.

"I´m fine- I´m sorry, Shannon, I really need to get back in there."

Noticing the dismissal, Shannon nodded and turned to leave while Alicia slipped back into the office, closing the door behind herself.

She found herself pressed up against the door as soon as it closed behind her and she responded to his desperate kiss, he needed reassurance and she would give him whatever he needed from her, just like she had done the last eighteen years.

They broke apart breathlessly and Taylor buried his face against Alicia´s shoulder, his arms still around her waist.

"I´m sorry" he muttered against her neck, his grip on her tightening.

"There´s nothing to be sorry about, you are as much entailed to comfort as anybody else is."

"I shouldn´t burden you with my weaknesses, you have enough to worry about without me adding to it, Wash."

"Worrying about you isn´t a burden, it´s my privilege and I won´t let you take it away from me."

She felt him smile against her neck and a moment later he straightened up and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple before letting go of her.

"If you enjoy it so much, who am I to deprive you of it- let´s go over the protocol for tomorrow and then we´ll call it a night, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan, Sir."

Before she could walk away from him, he reached out and pulled her into him once more, his voice thick with emotion.

"Tell me what to do" he muttered and she sighed, her hands caressing his back in a soothing, comforting manner.

"I can´t, it´s your decision and you´ve already made it, haven´t you."

He straightened up to look at her and after a moment of hesitation he nodded.

"You are right, I have- Terra Nova has no place for people not abiding to our laws."

The hard glitter in his eyes made way for a rarely seen tenderness as he reached up and twirled a strand of black hair around his fingers.

"Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself."

"We´ve been at this point before, it´s not so hard to know what you are thinking about, I´m thinking about it, too."

His arms wrapped around her once more and she relaxed against him, the sound of his steady heartbeat calming her down effectively.

"I never wanted to think about it anymore, Wash, I really thought we´d get a fresh start."

"We did, we have to focus on all the good things about this place, don´t doubt it all now."

_Taylor´s decision to banish Howard Millner had caused several protests and Wash could feel all eyes on her, she knew that people expected her to be able to influence her CO, even though they didn´t know the true nature of Alicia´s and Taylor´s relationship._

_In a way, she was being held responsible for Millner´s banishment and so she had taken it upon herself to march the convict towards the gate, accompanied by Tim Curran who had volunteered for the symbolic task alongside her._

_They waited until Millner was outside, then Wash glanced up at the tower, signaling for the gate to be closed and when she looked back at the crowd, Wash caught sight of Boylan looking at her with a strangely closed expression on his face, the mocking glitter in his eyes finally making her already fragile control snap._

_She briskly walked towards him and he waited for her, his eyes never leaving her´s._

_"What?"_

_She snapped, her eyes narrowing as he smiled at her humorlessly._

_"Ah, Lieutenant, you have a problem with me not liking the great Commander´s verdict?"_

_"You have no right to oppose him openly, Boylan, it wasn´t an easy decision for him to make but he had to make it and you know it."_

_Boylan snorted, turning to walk away in the direction of his bar but Wash wasn´t about to just let him off that easily and fell into step next to him._

_His face got more serious as he looked at her while he walked._

_"You know as well as I do that this hasn´t been the first murder in Terra Nova, if Taylor was to judge himself, he´d have to walk out of that gate right now and never come back."_

_Wash clenched her fists on her side, fighting the urge to simply knock the insufferable man out._

_"It wasn´t murder, it was-"_

_"Self defense, yeah, sure it was, who are you kidding, Wash? Taylor did it because he didn´t want to give up command, plain and simple."_

_"It wasn´t like that, he knew they would destroy everything he had worked for, how can you even say something like this? You used to be his friend."_

_"Used to, emphasis on that- murder or not aside, what do you think Taylor would do in that poor devil´s place?"_

_"I´m not sure I`m following."_

_"Don´t play dumb, Wash- Taylor´s itching to strangle every man who so much as looks at you, I´m sure if you were so inclined as to encourage one of them, he´d be dead meat, just as Foster is now."_

_Wash stopped walking abruptly and crossed her arms over her chest._

_"Watch what you´re saying, Tom, you might find yourself less useful than you think you are."_

_"Are you threatening me, Lieutenant? You sure that´s a wise move to make?"_

_"This isn´t a game, this is-"_

_"About Taylor, I know and when it comes down to it, you´d do anything, no matter what your own thoughts on the topic are, it´s really rather impressive, sad but impressive."_

_Wash bit her lip, she couldn't loose her temper with Boylan, even though she hated to admit it, he knew a few things neither Taylor nor herself wanted to become public._

_Boylan shook his head, his expression almost wistful now._

_"Sometimes I look at you and I remember that girl who joined our unit, you were so young, so beautiful, such a force, all the boys were crazy about you but you only had eyes for Taylor, no matter that he was married, a father, far too old for you and your CO on top of that._

_If it came down to a decision between what´s good for you and what´s good for the colony, what do you think he´d do then?"_

_"He´d pick the colony" she replied without missing a beat and Boylan laughed softly, shaking his head._

_"You´re right, he would and you wouldn´t blame him for it, that´s how well he trained you, if you weren´t so eager to strangle me right now, I´d feel sorry for you, Alicia."_

_"Are you having a point?"_

_"Not really- now go and comfort him, knowing him, he´ll need it."_

_She glared at him one last time for good measure, hearing him chuckle as she turned around on her heel and marched off in direction of her CO´s house._

Wash wasn´t sure if she should laugh or cry when Shannon bounced into command around midday, announcing he had brought Howard Millner back to the colony and that the man had evoked his confession.

Taylor looked about ready to shoot Shannon and Wash couldn´t help but think that she might help him bury the body this time, while her CO ordered the other man to conclude the investigation quickly, the Commander then stomped out of the office angrily, leaving his second and Shannon to figure out what had really happened to Foster.

Staring down at the financial records, she forced herself to accept that the whole situation was far worse than she had assumed, it hadn´t been Millner who had killed Foster after all, it had been Tim Curran, one of her boys, one of her soldiers.

When Shannon told her his plan to get a confession out of Curran she shook her head in exasperation, wondering if between her soldiers murdering their comrades for money and Shannon she was slowly loosing it.

"You want to employ Boylan for this? You´ve got to be kidding me" she looked at him pleadingly, as if waiting for him to tell her he had been joking but of course he did no such thing.

"Come on, Wash, the guy can´t be that bad, can he?"

"You have no idea- ok, let´s assume for a moment Taylor agrees with this, how exactly are we going to persuade Boylan to cooperate?"

Shannon smiled at her in a way she had come to associate with trouble.

"I think our good Boylan has a soft spot for you, ain´t that right, Wash?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Funny, Shannon- wait, are you being serious?"

"Sure- we´ll go and run the plan by Taylor now and then you´ll go over there and ask him nicely if he would mind to help us out."

Remembering her conversation with Boylan just that morning, Wash bit her lip.

"Uhm, I´m not sure I´m the right person for this right now, Shannon."

"Why?"

"Never mind, I´ll try" she hastily got up, the last thing she needed was Shannon figuring out that she had good reasons to keep Boylan happy.

She lead the way outside where they found Taylor near the gate, talking to Guzman.

"Sir."

Wash addressed her CO formally and Taylor turned towards her, looking alarmed.

"Report, Lieutenant."

"We went through Foster´s finances and found that Tim Curran owed him a great deal of money, much more than he could have paid back in fact."

Taylor ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes closing briefly.

"Damn" he muttered, then looked up again, his eyes hard.

"What´s the plan?"

Jim Shannon explained his idea and Taylor actually looked amused for a moment.

"Sounds insane but fine, we´ll do it that way- Wash, get yourself down to Boylan´s and charm him."

"Yes, Sir" she said resignedly, then walked away, pulling her hair out of her ponytail as she went.

She ascended the steps into the bar and met Tom Boylan alone, working behind the counter.

"Lieutenant, here to apologize?"

He teased her as Wash leaned onto the bar.

"No- though I suppose I´ll have to after all- I need you."

"Finally came to your senses, uh?"

He winked at her, his eyes sparkling with amusement and Wash shuddered.

"Not in that way- we need you to help us catch the murderer of Foster."

"How´s that? I thought you already banished him out there?"

They looked around at the sound of footsteps and Wash felt relieved when the commander came down the steps and walked up to the bar, coming to stand right next to her.

"Tom" he greeted and Boylan grinned.

"All right, now tell me what´s going on here."

Boylan looked from Taylor to Wash expectantly and they exchanged a quick glance before the commander pulled out his radio, leaving the lieutenant to explain while telling Guzman to make sure there was a rover by the gate.

"We know who killed him" Wash began, the information still unsettling her, "it was Curran."

She avoided Boylan´s gaze, the smug look on his face was more than she could handle right now.

"One of your boys, eh, Lieutenant? Now that´s disappointing, forgot to drill the good commander´s code of honor into them, did you now."

Wash took a deep breath, they needed his help but damn it.

"Let me remind you of your little game shop" she told him as cooly as possible, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest while Boylan´s gleeful expression sobered up a little.

"All right, all right, what do you want from me now?"

"Nothing much" Taylor cut in, "we´d like for you to let yourself get arrested, struggle a bit to make it convincing, answer a few questions with Curran present, then stay up at command a little while I go and turn that bastard loose somewhere."

"When you say I, does that mean the lovely lieutenant will be keeping me company?"

Boylan grinned at her and Wash rolled her eyes.

"You´re disgusting, you know that."

"Yeah, I know but you need my help, don´t you."

Taylor briefly touched his hand to her shoulder in an apologetic way.

"Sure, Tom, someone needs to make sure you won´t get into trouble while I´m gone- Wash, go tell Reynolds to get Shannon and Curran and some more of your guys, you can tell him if you trust him enough."

"Yes, Sir."

She got up, resigning herself to the fact that she would spend the afternoon in the company of Boylan as she looked for Mark.

She found him in the mess hall and motioned for him to follow her outside before turning to him with a somber expression on her face.

"It wasn´t Millner, it was Curran who killed Foster."

The young man stared back at her in horror, then visibly pulled himself together.

"Are you sure, Ma´am?"

"Positive- I´m sorry, Mark."

"Can I do anything to help?"

His voice was determined now and Alicia almost smiled, she might have failed with Curran but she had managed to produce at least one model soldier.

"Yeah, you actually can."

It wasn´t that Wash wasn´t grateful for Boylan´s help but did he have to enjoy it so much?

She put her radio down again, shaking her head at Boylan´s teasing grin and put her head in her hands.

"Come on, Lieutenant, you should make a bit of an effort, be better company."

"Shut it, Boylan, I´m not here for your amusement."

"Aren´t you? I think you are, it´s much more pleasant sitting here with a beautiful woman to keep me company."

She looked up at him, her fingers itching to wrap around his throat.

"I´d so love to hurt you right now" she sighed but it didn't have the desired effect for Boylan didn´t look impressed but rather amused at her words.

"I´ve known you a long time, Lieutenant and I know that you can be quite nice if you want to."

"Not to you."

"Maybe not but I bet you´re much nicer to the commander, aren´t you."

Realizing that there was no way she would manage to make him shut up anytime soon, Wash sat back in her chair, looking at the man expectantly.

"Fine, I´ll humor you- what are you talking about, he´s my CO, of course I´m nicer to him than I am to you, it´s in my job description."

"Not what I meant, you know what the boys talk about when they´ve had a few too many?"

"Art and music?"

Wash shrugged, having no idea what he was aiming for but still unable to keep her sarcasm under control.

"Not so much, actually it´s women- and you´re the number one fantasy of most."

Wash rolled her eyes.

"Naturally, I´m their CO, tends to inspire idiotic fantasies."

"Now you´re talking" Boylan grinned, leaning back in his chair while Wash prayed for patience.

"You know, no one said I couldn´t hurt you if you annoy me" she growled, her fingers toying with the knife strapped to her belt.

They were interrupted by Wash´s radio coming to life again and she picked it up, hoping she´d get an excuse to leave Boylan alone.

"We´re on our way back, Wash- how are things there?"

"No words for it, Sir, can I kill him just a little bit?"

Taylor chuckled.

"Afraid not, Lieutenant but you can get someone to drive him back to his bar or to his house and meet us at the gate in five."

"Will do, Washington out."

She got up, ignoring Boylan´s amusement at her eagerness to get away from him and opened the door.

"Reynolds, I´m really sorry for this but take Boylan and drive him wherever he wants to go, preferably somewhere outside the gate."

Mark had to fight to keep his face straight as he nodded.

"Will do, Ma´am."

Wash hurried down the steps, the rover was already visible in the distance and she called for the gate to be raised before joining Elisabeth Shannon in their usual waiting ritual.


	10. Chapter 10

(I still can´t figure out how a Spinosaurus managed to walk all the way from Africa to Argentina to meet up with Carnotaurus but then we´ve learned in Genesis that there are Allosaurus as well and they lived in the Jurassic period while Terra Nova is set in the Cretaceuous, so I´ll just put it down to creative writing and ignore it...)

The following chapter contains spoilers for Bylaw and Nightfall and as usual, I don´t own anything…

Thank you for reading and reviewing :D

**metube:** Thank you so very much for taking so much time to comment- I know, it´s a bit sad but then of course that´s what their relationship is about, they are both willing to make sacrifices to protect the people they are responsible for though I still hate it that Wash technically has to let herself get caught because stupid Josh couldn't keep his temper under control and had to punch Lucas, makes me want to plug Josh into a million tiny pieces… Then of course I´d have to do the same to Jim for holding Taylor back from saving her, so I´ll just have to let it go and accept it- ok, I´ll come up with something to explain Jim´s reaction because I still can´t believe it… So here´s the next part now, hope you´ll enjoy it as well :)

**MissCallaLily:** Oh, thank you, glad you see it that way, I´ll do my best to keep up with your expectations in the next chapter as well then :D

* * *

Taylor climbed out of the rhino, his expression unreadable and beckoned Wash over to him.

"Wait for me at home, I need to talk to Shannon for a moment, I´ll be quick."

She nodded briskly, turning on her heel and marching away in direction of the barracks, making sure no one was watching as she slipped into Taylor´s house.

Wash was cooking when the front door opened and her CO stepped inside, slipping off his boots and putting his weapons away before joining her in the kitchen, his arms wrapping around her waist as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Glad this day´s finally over" he confessed, "thanks for playing along, I´m sure you didn't have much fun."

She shrugged lightly.

"You know Boylan, he´s a pain in the ass but he´s not a bad guy."

"No, annoying as hell, though."

"I absolutely agree- if you let go of me, we can eat."

"In a moment" he muttered, his nose nuzzling her neck and Wash chuckled, trying to pull his arms away from her waist.

"Nathaniel, let go."

"I will if you kiss me."

She turned around, smiling when he gently pressed her against the counter.

"Why didn't you say so, Sir."

She kissed him back deeply, then shooed him out of the kitchen and finally finished preparing their meal before carrying the plates over into the living room.

It wasn't till after they had finished their dinner and Wash was lying on the couch with her head in Taylor´s lap, that they finally talked about what was really bothering them.

"He tried to deny it at first" Taylor told Wash, his fingers tangling in her hair, "when he realized I didn´t believe him, he tried to shoot me."

She tensed, instinctively shifting to get closer to him and he pulled her up and fully into his arms.

"I´m fine, Wash, you know that, you personally swapped his gun after all."

"It´s not that, I know I did, I just can´t believe- where did I go so wrong with him?"

She leaned her head against his shoulder, suddenly feeling completely exhausted and she readily accepted the warmth and comfort Nathaniel´s embrace was offering.

"You didn´t, you can´t guarantee they all turn out right, look at Tom" Taylor joked halfheartedly but Wash had to smile all the same.

"Right, I forgot about Boylan, he´s a serious screw up if ever I saw one."

_Some days later things had gone back to normal and Taylor was determined to find out more about the strange box that had been buried under the floor in Mira´s old house._

_Wash met him outside Malcolm´s lab after her morning patrol, frowning when she saw the expression on his face._

_"What´s wrong, still nothing new?"_

_"Malcolm examined it further, found out that there´s a DNA response system inside, seems it can only be opened by one person."_

_"That doesn't sound like Mira" Wash told him quietly, feeling uneasy when he nodded darkly._

_"No, that has Lucas written all over it- damn, that means he´s working with Mira, I don´t like this, Wash, we need to find out what they are planning."_

_They made their way over to the command center and up into the office, Taylor closing the door behind them._

_"So what are we going to do?"_

_Wash asked, leaning against the conference table with her arms crossed._

_"No idea, we really need to figure out who´s feeding information to Mira, as much as Boylan annoys me, I simply can´t believe he´d do something to really harm the colony, a few side dealings, hell, yes but inside information?"_

_"I can´t see him doing that, either, he´s got friends here, he likes this place, he likes his comforts and the Sixers have nothing they could tempt him with."_

_"Yeah, well, can´t rule it out completely, though."_

_"I´ll keep an eye on him- now what about the box?"_

_Taylor shrugged._

_"We can't open it, so we can´t find out what it is for but if we´re right and it is Lucas´s we have to be even more careful, it might hold some information he needs to complete his calculations."_

_Before Wash could reply they heard a commotion outside and hurried onto the balcony, instantly spotting the meteor burning out in the atmosphere as it approached the planet._

_It was followed by a massive sonic wave and both the Commander and his second began shouting orders at civilians and soldiers alike before Taylor told Wash to get inside, following her seconds later and landing on the floor next to her._

_They looked at each other for a moment, stunned, then carefully straightened up and brushed dust and bits of glass from their clothes._

_"Are you all right?"_

_Taylor asked, sounding worried and she nodded._

_"I´m fine- let´s go and see how bad it is."_

_They made their way over to the mostly destroyed market, Wash starting to tend to some wounded civilians while Taylor told Sargent Reilley to round up as many of her comrades as she could in half an hour and meet him back at command._

_"Reminds me of ´37" he told Wash as she bandaged a man´s arm before sending him off to the infirmary._

_"Yeah, hope it won´t be that bad, at least no one is waiting to take us out, unless-" Her voice trailed away, it wasn´t necessary to tell her CO what she was thinking, he understood as well as she did that they could only hope the power would be back up before Mira or Lucas found out that Terra Nova was more or less defenseless._

_Wash thought about Somalia and the EMP their enemies had set off, she and Taylor had been cut off from the rest of their unit and had been forced to make their way back to base on foot, right through enemy territory armed with nothing but their knives._

_The only good thing about it had been that the couple of soldiers they had come across had been less skilled than Wash and her CO and in the end they had managed to get back to safety with only a few scratches._

_"Let´s get that meeting over with, then we go and see Malcolm, see if he has more chips."_

_"Will so, Sir."_

_When she was satisfied that no one needed her immediate medical attention anymore, Wash followed Taylor to the designed meeting place where they found a large group of security detail already assembled._

_They informed them about the EMP and told them what to do, then Taylor send everybody off and Wash jogged back towards the infirmary, quickly checking in with Elisabeth Shannon before catching up with her CO on his way to Malcolm._

_The expression on Taylor´s face when she suggested they´d go to Boylan was so adorable, all Wash could do was to keep herself from laughing, she could understand where he was coming from of course, asking Boylan for a favor was about the last thing she wanted to do, too._

_Taylor followed her outside reluctantly, grabbing her wrist when she started to walk towards the bar._

_"Is this really the only way?"_

_He asked, almost pleadingly and Wash shrugged._

_"Tell me an alternative and I´m happy to go there, I like this about as much as you do."_

Wash followed Taylor out of the bar, still smiling slightly.

"What´s so funny, Wash?"

"Just the expression on his face, Sir- as much as I hate to say this, he´s right, though, we really need more people who know how to repair mechanical equipment."

"I hate it when he´s right."

"Yeah, me too but that´s one more reason to make him replaceable."

"Good point- I´ll go walk the perimeter, check on the towers, you go and see how everybody´s holding up, meet me at the gate again at 1100."

"Yes, Sir."

"Wash?"

She turned back to him.

"Be safe."

"You too, Sir."

As Wash made her way through the colony it occurred to her that she hadn´t seen Mark Reynolds all morning, true, it was his day off but her whole unit wasn´t technically on duty and yet they all were around somewhere, helping out.

"Reilley."

"Yes, Ma´am?"

"Have you seen Reynolds around somewhere?"

"No, Ma´am, I haven´t seen him since yesterday."

Frowning slightly, Alicia dismissed the other woman and continued on her way, asking a few more people if they had seen Mark and finally it dawned on her that he must have gone OTG without telling anybody but she couldn´t dwell onto that idea now, she had to meet Taylor at the gate.

While he updated her on the chip situation, Wash couldn´t help but wonder if she had ever appreciated her radio set the way it deserved.

"We need another line of defense."

Wash stepped closer to her CO, her gaze following his.

"The only thing that´ll work against the wildlife is fire" she mused, judging the distance from the gate to the treeline.

"We need to get a ring of something that burns around the fence, at shooting range, say seventy yards."

"Excellent plan, Lieutenant" Taylor slapped her back, almost making her loose her balance and smiled.

"You could do with some more combat weight, Wash" he teased her and she looked up at him, eyebrows raised.

"I doubt you´d appreciate that, Sir- would make me look less good in lingerie."

She watched his eyes darken and bit her lip to keep herself from smiling, it amused her how easily she could manipulate him, no matter how serious the situation was.

"On second thought, keep it the way it is" he told her, then added "I´ll get people on that defense line, see if you can help in the infirmary."

_"Unfermented Taroca root?"_

_Wash glanced over to where Skye was in the process of extracting a massive worm from Hunter´s stomach._

_Elisabeth Shannon nodded, shaking her head._

_"I know, for some reason teenagers seem to be the same no matter what."_

_Wash made a mental note to speak to both Taylor and Guzman about the company Tasha and Skye were keeping, Guzman kept encouraging his friends to tell him if they found out anything about his daughter he ought to know about and Taylor felt responsible for Skye._

_Truth be told Wash was certain that Skye wasn´t as innocent as Taylor liked to think but she kept those thoughts to herself, Tasha on the other hand was a sweet girl desperate for attention and guys like Hunter were more trouble than they were worth._

_"You think he´ll make it?"_

_She asked aloud while straitening her patient´s broken arm, ignoring the man´s yelp of pain._

_Dr. Shannon sighed, her face worried._

_"I hope so, I´m not entirely sure but- we´ll just have to hope for the best, it´s an inconvenient time for the power system to shut down."_

_"It´s always an inconvenient time for that, trust me- there, all set" she told the patient who thanked her, sounding grateful despite the pain she had just afflicted on him._

_"I´m glad you are here, Lieutenant" Dr. Shannon told Alicia, "we´re all so used to having bio beds, our manual skills have gotten a bit rusty, you´re heaven sent."_

_Wash shrugged off the complement._

_"Don´t mention it."_

_"Jim mentioned you put sixty seven stitches into the commander once, is that true?"_

_"Yeah, Commander Taylor has a thing for getting crazy injuries."_

_"But sixty seven? That´s insane, how did he live though that?"_

_"I can be very convincing if I want to, I told him if he´d die on me, I´d kill him."_

_Elisabeth smiled._

_"I can just see you doing that- weren´t you terrified?"_

_"I suppose so, if I was I didn´t notice it at the time, I had to concentrate to be quick enough and keep him conscious at the same time."_

_They were interrupted by Reilley who walked up to Alicia and stood at attention in front of her CO._

_"The Commander wants you at the gate, Ma´am, it´s getting dark and he´s expecting trouble."_

_The two women left the infirmary and Wash dismissed Reilley before making her way over to Taylor who was looking worried._

_"Something is moving in the tree line, something big- we´ll have to rely on one crossbow, I´m afraid, you and I are the only ones who know how to use them and I don´t want to trust anyone but you with lightening the bolt."_

_Shannon appeared at that moment and announced that he had been stuck in the eye, then they all watched as a gigantic spinosaurus broke through the tree line and advanced on the gate._

_Taylor handed the second crossbow to Shannon and told Wash to set the arrows aflame._

_The gigantic animal roared as it stomped up and down in front of the line of fire and it was then that Taylor spotted the arrow sticking out of the animal´s hide._

_Furious with himself for not having seen through the obvious diversion, Taylor ordered his second to stay by the gate while he hurried off with Shannon to keep the Sixers from getting to the mysterious box._

Wash waited anxiously, with the power still down she had no communication devices and when it was Tom Boylan instead of Shannon or Taylor who walked towards her, her heart began to pound at a sickening pace.

"What happened?"

She asked, for once not caring that her voice gave away her emotions.

"Calm down, Wash, he´s alive, took a bolt to the shoulder, though, you might want to get it out yourself, would cause too much attention if he went to the infirmary."

"Does he know?"

She asked, automatically seeking reassurance that it would be ok for her to leave the gate when her CO had ordered her to stay there.

"He asked me to get you, go on, the power´s back up and that fire outside will burn for a while, anyway, fence is perfectly safe."

He handed her a handful of micro chips and told her they were for their radios, then waited while she instructed one of Guzman´s man to inform her instantly if there was any more trouble before leading the way towards the barracks.

"Do I get details now?"

"Taylor and Shannon surprised the Sixers in the lab, Carter got the box, Shannon went after him.

I shot the other guy, even got thanks for it, after Taylor´d told me that he´d been fine on his own."

Wash sighed, shaking her head.

"Sounds like him- Carter got away?"

"Yeah- before you ask, I have no idea what´s in there."

"Thank you" Wash said sincerely and Boylan chuckled, his hand briefly finding her arm.

"You´re welcome, I feel bad enough for you as it is, least I can do is keeping him alive for you."

Wash rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation as she stopped in front of her CO´s front door.

"And there I was, thinking for a moment I might actually start to like you just a little bit."

"Can´t have that, can we, would take all the fun out of life- now get in there."

Alicia entered the house and closed the door behind herself, looking around for Taylor and feeling worried again when she didn´t spot him anywhere in the living area.

She made her way over to the bedroom where she found him sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard, his face ashen.

"You look like hell" she observed, stripping off her armor and jacket and sitting down next to him, he was still fully dressed and Wash assumed that he couldn't move his shoulder well enough to get rid of his own armor and clothes.

"I feel like it, too, I had forgotten how much arrows hurt, thank God for sonic guns."

"Incorrigible" Wash muttered while carefully unstrapping his body armor and pulling it off as gently as she could, but when she saw the nasty gash she knew there was no way of getting his shirt off the same way.

"I´m sorry, that´ll have to come off another way" she told him, reaching for her knife.

"That´s not an attempt of mutiny, is it, Lieutenant?"

Taylor joked, sounding much more relaxed now that the pressure of his armor had been removed from the wound.

"Tempting" Wash mused, the tip of her blade briefly touching against his neck, his sharp intake of breath and her to smile, "but no, not right now, I wouldn´t kill a defenseless man."

"I´m not defenseless" he protested but she silenced him with a well placed glare before bringing the knife to the hem of his shirt and starting to cut the fabric in half.

She had cut the sleeve open as well before she could pull it off, then she gently proved the wound with her fingertips, tensing when Taylor flinched.

"I´ll have to sedate you for this, it´ll hurt like hell otherwise."

It was a sign just in how much pain Taylor actually was that he didn´t even attempt to fight her on this and Wash helped him to lie down fully on the bed before injecting him, then she watched as he relaxed, his breathing evening out as the pain decreased.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah- don´t tell anyone though, I have a reputation to loose."

"Don´t worry, I won´t tell anyone."

Wash cut the rest of the arrow out of the flesh, then cleaned the wound and stitched it up neatly, finally applying a generous amount of antiseptic.

"All done" she announced, using her hand on Taylor´s shoulder to hold him down when he attempted to sit up.

"Just stay down, Nathaniel, you need to rest, you lost a lot of blood and I´ve sedated you, you will not go running around outside."

"Wash, I need to-"

"You need to sleep- tell me what you want and I´ll go and take care of it."

He hesitated, then nodded and relaxed back against the pillows again.

"The gap in the fence needs to be repaired and there´s a body in Malcolm´s lab, Boylan can contact Mira and tell her she can have him back if she wants him."

"Will do- do I have to up the dose or do you promise to stay here and go to sleep?"

"No kidding, Wash, I could´t get up if I wanted to, how much of that stuff did you put into me?"

His voice was beginning to sound slurred and he was fighting to keep his eyes open.

"I´m sorry, I know you too well" Wash whispered and when she bent over him to press a gentle kiss to his lips, the commander had already fallen asleep.

Wash pulled her radio out of her pocket and inserted the new microchip and to her relief she found that it was working properly again, she activated it and contacted Guzman on her way outside.

"What do you need, Wash?"

"Are you anywhere near the barracks?"

"Just starting my official shift."

"I need you to come over to the commander´s house, bring two of your men and stand guard, he´s been shot and I´ve sedated him."

"Is he ok?"

"He´ll be fine, he´s out cold, though and I don´t want any risks."

"I´ll be there in five."

Wash waited until Guzman and two members of his unit had arrived at the house, then she tried once more to reach Mark but to no success.

She contacted Reilley instead, telling her to take a few others and guard the gap in the fence until she could send Guzman over to oversee the repairs.

Despite the late hour the bar was packed, people celebrating the crisis being over and Boylan didn´t look happy when Wash motioned for him to follow her upstairs to his office.

"Wash, I´m busy."

"I´m sorry, I need you to contact Mira, tell her to pick up the body of her man before sunrise."

Boylan activated his comm unit and Wash waited until the Sixer leader had been informed about the meeting and agreed, then left Boylan´s again and walked over to the Shannon´s house, knocking at the door and waiting until Jim opened it.

"Hey, Wash- is Taylor ok?"

"The Commander is asleep, how are you?"

"Bruised ego but apart from that, I´m fine."

"We´ll be meeting Mira OTG at 0600, if you want to come, be on time."

"Sure, I´ll be there."

"Good, I´ll go and relieve Guzman, I placed him outside Taylor´s house."

She bid Shannon goodnight and made her way back over to the barracks, meeting Guzman on Taylor´s front porch.

"There´s a gap in the fence, I put Reilley in charge, it needs to be repaired, I´ll wait until Taylor wakes up now, Mira will be near the gate at sunrise."

Guzman didn't ask any unnecessary questions but beckoned to his men to follow him while Wash slipped back into the house.

She settled down next to her CO on the bed and closed her eyes, feeling exhausted, she wasn´t worried that she might miss her meeting, Taylor would certainly wake her as soon as he woke up himself.

_Wash woke up to Taylor´s hand playing with her hair and slowly opened her eyes, not at all sure in what mood she would find Nathaniel after knocking him out for the night against his will._

_"Good morning, Lieutenant" he whispered, his eyes twinkling with mirth, "slept all right?"_

_She hesitated._

_"Well enough- you?"_

_"Stop looking so scared, Wash, I won´t bite your head off- have you talked to Boylan?"_

_"Mira will be at the gate in an hour."_

_"I´m coming with you."_

_She hesitated, then decided she´d better not push him any further and nodded resignedly._

_"Fine, I´ll go take a shower and get dressed now, meet you at 0545."_

_In her own house, Wash showered and got dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white top, adding her favorite leather jacked on the way out._

_Taylor was already waiting for her and she looked him upside down critically but he was standing up straight and didn´t appear to be in any pain._

_"Stop fussing, Wash, I´m all right, I had worse."_

_"It was bad enough, we have to watch out, they seem to be out of ammo again and crossbows and bullets are much more deadly than sonic waves."_

_They made their way over to the gate in silence and met up with Jim Shannon before Taylor gave order to raise the gate and the three of them walked through it and towards the tree line, a dozen soldiers of Wash´s unit behind them, two of them carrying a stretcher with the dead Sixer´s body on it._

_Mira stepped out of the trees, accompanied by Carter who threw Shannon a triumphant glance before his eyes fixed on Wash, a hateful glittering in the dark orbs._

_Wash ignored the man and instead looked at Mira who was seizing her up, her expression unreadable._

_"You think it´s wise to bring her out here?"_

_Mira addressed Taylor, her eyes still on Wash._

_"Take your man, Mira, we can talk afterwards."_

_Mira shrugged, motioning towards the trees and two more Sixers stepped out and took the stretcher from the soldiers, carrying it back into the jungle._

_Taylor motioned for the soldiers and Shannon to step out of listening range before turning back to Mira._

_"What do you mean, why shouldn´t I bring her out here?"_

_Taylor asked testily and Wash briefly considered telling them off for talking about her as though she wasn´t there but she wanted to hear what Mira had to say, so she would have to keep her temper in check._

_"I had a little talk with Lucas, he told me about Somalia, trust me, he´d love to kill her just as much as he´d like to kill you."_

_Wash crossed her arms over her chest, glancing at her CO who was looking at Mira, his jaw set._

_"Tell Lucas if he hurts her I´ll forget myself."_

_Mira smirked, shrugging._

_"I´ll do that- thanks for letting us take the body, that was decent of you."_

_"I´d say anytime but I can´t guarantee that- next time we´ll be enemies again, Mira."_

_"We most certainly will be- take good care of your pretty little pet, Taylor."_

_Wash took a step towards Mira but Taylor´s hand on her arm held her back as the other woman disappeared back into the tree line._

_"You should have let me kill her" Wash hissed, furious, her fingers still itching to close around Mira´s neck but Taylor firmly pulled her away and back towards the gates, only letting go when they reached the rest of her unit._

_"What was that about?"_

_Shannon asked instantly but Taylor shook his head and the other man looked at Wash who shrugged, falling back to walk beside Shannon while the commander walked faster to catch up with Dunham in front._

_"Mira wanted to give us a warning about Lucas."_

_"Sounded more like a warning for you."_

_"Lucas and I didn´t exactly part on good terms, if he´d get his hands on me it wouldn't end too pleasantly for me."_

_Shannon seemed to accept her explanation, leaving Wash to ponder on their meeting with Mira._

_She hadn´t been honest with Shannon, in fact she didn´t have the slightest idea what the other woman had been talking about, true, Lucas didn´t particularly like her, he had told her that he didn´t think she had fought hard enough to save him and his mother and then of course she was his father´s lieutenant, his creation and to Lucas that would be reason enough to kill her._

_But she had had the feeling that Mira and Nathaniel had been talking about something else entirely and she wanted to know what it was._


	11. Chapter 11

The following part will contain spoilers for Nightfall and Proof, as always, I don´t own anything.

I wanted to establish some facts about Lucas´s feelings about Wash, I wasn´t really satisfied with the way their relationship was dismissed in the season finale, she has been in his life for a long time, even before he lost his mother and has lived with him at Terra Nova previous to his banishment.

Somehow it didn´t feel right to me that he would just shoot her because she refused to tell him about the Shannon´s, so I thought about it and created a scenario that explains his total hatred towards his father´s second in command.

**metube:** Again, thank you so much for the review- I´ll come to that now, it´s all about Somalia, once again ;) Well, I actually had trouble to understand why Taylor would wait until the next morning to talk to Malcolm about the box, so I had to find a reason for him to be MIA, used Wash and her famous medical skills for it… There´s going to be a lot more Wash/Boylan interaction, she wants some explanations and he´s going to give them to her when Taylor won´t.

**MissCallaLilly:** Ah, thank you, glad you enjoyed it- so here´s the next part now :)

* * *

Taylor was waiting for them at the gate and Wash looked at him expectantly, she wanted an explanation but instead of reacting to her questioning look, the commander turned towards Shannon.

"Let´s go and talk to Malcolm- Wash, I´ll see you at command in an hour."

Noticing a dismissal when she heard one the lieutenant turned on her heel and walked off in direction of the barracks, determined to make use of the time she had on hand to find her missing Corporal.

She entered the barracks and almost ran into Reynolds, covered in mud from head to foot and smelling awful.

"No showers at your holiday resort, Reynolds?"

She asked dryly, crossing her arms as the young man jumped to attention.

"Are you injured?"

Wash inquired, relieved when he shook his head.

"No, Ma´am."

"Good, then there´s nothing keeping me from giving you a true dressing down, is there."

"No, Ma´am."

"You know what happened here yesterday?"

"Yes, Ma´am, an EMP."

"Precisely, the power system closed down, the perimeter was useless, we had no weapons except for our knives and Mira´s men broke into the colony, not a good day to vanish without a trace."

"I´m sorry, Ma´am."

He looked it, too and Wash´s expression softened a bit.

"Never go OTG again without telling anyone were you´ll be, understood?"

He looked up at her, looking ashamed.

"Yes, Ma´am."

"Good- go and ask Sargent Reilly to take a few men and get your rover back inside, I`ll think of a suitable punishment later."

"Yes, Ma´am."

Wash rolled her eyes.

"What´s with that yes and no, can´t you talk properly anymore?"

"I don´t know what to say, I´m sorry I disappointed you, it won´t happen again."

"Damn right it won´t- a personal advice, don´t tell Mr. Shannon you took his daughter out there, he was out all night, as was his wife, if you´re lucky they won´t find out at all."

Mark looked so relieved that Wash had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing.

"Dismissed, Corporal."

Reynolds saluted, then walked away towards the showers while Wash decided to get some breakfast from one of the fruit vendors on the market.

Still pondering Taylor´s earlier conversation with Mira, Wash made her way up to the office where she found her CO already waiting for her.

"Hey, Wash."

He greeted her, smiling but there was a slightly guarded expression in his eyes, telling her that he was indeed keeping something from her.

"All right, just tell me, I won´t let it go anyway."

"I believe we set a rule here, Lieutenant."

"Beg pardon?"

She said, confused.

"We decided not to talk about personal matters while on duty and I believe our shifts won´t end until tonight."

"Now you decide to bring that up?"

"As good a time as any- sit down, we have tons of paperwork."

True to his word, Taylor hadn´t talked about anything but work the whole morning, then he had send Wash out on noon patrol and told her to check up on the repairs to the fence afterwards, when she had come back he had send her out again, telling her to make sure that everyone who needed them had new functional microchips.

By the time she had checked on everyone who owned a radio set or other technical equipment, it was time for evening patrol and Wash met her CO at the gate where he was talking to Guzman.

"Hey, Wash."

"Sir- Guz."

She waited until the two men had finished their conversation, then followed Taylor as he started to walk along the perimeter.

"You´ll be ok here for a couple of days?"

He asked suddenly, stopping and turning towards her.

"Sir?"

"As idiotic as it may sound, I need some time to clear my head, you know I can´t get that around here."

"You´re going fishing?"

She asked, not surprised when he nodded.

"Thought of taking Shannon with me" he admitted, continuing along the fence and Wash had to hide her smile, in a way she liked the fact that he was making a friend, perhaps she wouldn´t have to worry about Shannon´s loyalty to her CO after all.

"Sure, you go take a break from it all, I´ll be fine here."

"We´ll be back early on Thursday."

Feeling suspicious at his final tone, Wash voiced her next sentence carefully.

"You aren´t coming over tonight?"

"No, I´m sorry, I have to look through the pictures I took at the falls last time, see if I can´t figure out how long Lucas will need now."

Drawing a deep breath, Wash nodded.

"I see."

They didn´t talk anymore, there wasn´t much to say, Taylor had made it clear that he wasn´t willing to talk about his conversation with Mira and Wash was busy trying to decide wether or not to accept his decision.

By the time they had reached the gate she had made up her mind, if he wasn´t going to tell her, she´d find out some other way.

"Goodnight, Lieutenant."

Taylor briefly touched her shoulder and Wash forced herself to smile in response.

"Goodnight, Sir."

She looked after him as he made his way up to the office again, then walked over to Boylan´s and descended the stairs into the bar.

Josh Shannon was serving drinks and smiled at her when he saw her.

"Good evening, Lieutenant, can I get you anything?"

"Hello, Josh- two glasses of Bourbon."

Drinks in hand she made her way upstairs and found the man she was looking for seated behind his desk.

"Why bothering with that stuff, that´s what plex pads are for" she sat down in front of the desk and nodded towards the mountains of papers Boylan was trying to sort out.

"Plex pads can be hacked" Boylan shrugged as he accepted a glass of Bourbon from Alicia.

"What brings you here, don´t you have anywhere nicer to be?"

Wash leaned back in her chair and took a sip of Bourbon before putting the glass down onto the table.

"I need you to tell me something."

"You seem to need an awful lot from me these days- what is it now?"

"Somalia- I have a feeling I`m missing some crucial part of information."

"Not sure I´m following."

"Mira said something about Lucas wanting to kill me as much as Taylor, any idea why that might be the case?"

She could tell that Boylan was catching on by his expression and leaned forward, amused by the way his eyes briefly strayed before snapping back up to meet her´s.

"You know somethings, I can see it, spill."

Boylan ran a hand through his hair, then shrugged.

"Oh what the hell, let Taylor sort out his own mess, why would I care- when Taylor realized that the fight outside was a diversion, he told half the unit to shoot the few rebels still standing and took the rest of us back to the tents.

When we got there you were on the ground, blood pooling all around you, barely conscious and Taylor pulled you into his lap, yelling for someone to get a copter.

I found one of the guys you´d taken down wasn´t quite dead, made him tell me that they had only been a little over thirty in the first place, minus the ones we´d shot outside and the ones dead by the tents that meant only a handful of them could be with Ayani and Lucas."

We knew their base camp was almost two hours out and our rovers were faster than theirs."

Boylan´s voice trailed away but Wash had already heard enough.

"Are you telling me that if he had left straight away he´d have overtaken them before they reached their reinforcements?"

"Yeah, most certainly, I tried to point that out to him but he brushed me off, I´m not sure he was even listening, he was holding you, trying to stop the bleeding, I don´t think there was room for anything in his head at that moment than you."

Wash took another sip of her drink, trying to come to terms with the fact that Taylor had knowingly sacrificed his family to stay with her, if Lucas knew about that, she couldn´t exactly blame him for hating her as much as he hated his father.

"Thanks for telling me" she got up from her chair and Boylan nodded.

"Don´t mention it, as far as I´m concerned, you deserve to know what you´re up against."

_Wash found Taylor still behind his desk, a pile of plex pads in front of him but he wasn´t working, just staring into space when she closed the door behind herself._

_He looked up and she remained standing by the door, waiting for his reaction._

_"You talked to Boylan."_

_It wasn´t a question, it was what he would have done in her position as well and Wash didn´t bother to confirm his statement and instead walked up to the desk, not surprised when he got up and met her half way._

_"You should have told me."_

_"No."_

_Trying not to let her frustration show, Wash crossed her arms over her chest._

_"Are we going to talk about this or not?"_

_His expression was calculation as he looked at her, taking in the obvious tension in her body, then he nodded slowly._

_"All right, we´ll talk but not here, meet me at my place in ten."_

_He walked right past her and out of the office, leaving Wash to lower the lights._

_They made a point of not leaving together, apart from Guzman no one knew officially about their relationship and even though Boylan and a few others seemed convinced that they were a couple, they didn´t want to confirm their suspicions._

_Ten minutes later Wash slipped into her CO´s house and closed the door behind herself, not at all surprised when she found him pacing in the living room._

_Wash walked up to him and leaned against the sofa, watching him for while before asking "What if they had shot Ayani and had taken Lucas and me, would Lucas still be alive then?"_

_Taylor stopped and glanced at her and Wash chuckled humorlessly._

_"Of course he would be because in that case you´d have left your wife bleeding to death and come after us straight away."_

_"Look, I´m not proud of it but I´d do it again, I had to make a decision and I did, you will just have to accept that."_

_"He is your son, Nathaniel and he was just a kid, he was scared and he was waiting for you, how could you-"_

_"Damn it, Wash, you were in so much pain and you were scared, how could I have left you?"_

_"They needed you."_

_"You needed me- and I needed you."_

_He pulled her into him, his arms closing tightly around her back, his face buried in her unbound hair._

_"I´m not sorry for what I did, not proud but not sorry, either. If I hadn´t stayed, you would have died, you´d have given up and you know it."_

_She didn´t reply, he was right, he had been the sole reason she had fought for her life until help had arrived, unable to disappoint him when he was sounding so desperate._

_Her arms wrapped around him without her really thinking about it, how could she accuse him of loving her so much everything else paled in compare?_

_They stood like that for some time, just enjoying being close to each other until Taylor finally bend his head down to her´s and kissed her, his hands finding their way underneath her top, gently caressing her bare skin._

_"Make love to me" Wash whispered and she felt him smile against her lips._

_"With pleasure, Ma´am."_

Wash accompanied Taylor to the gate before dawn where they met up with Shannon who looked torn between anxiety and amusement.

While the commander was busy loading his bag into a rover, Shannon turned to Wash, looking imploringly at her.

"This is not going to be one of Taylor´s ideas of doing something normal all differently so it turns out to be crazy and dangerous?"

Wash looked up into his worried face, shaking her head.

"Shannon, you´re a sissy- don´t worry, it´s just a fishing trip- granted, it´s OTG so there might be some dangers involved but nothing a big boy like yourself can handle."

She slapped him on the back, then turned to her CO while Shannon walked over to his wife, sulking.

"He´s right, don´t do anything reckless" she warned Taylor who smirked before reaching for her ponytail and twirling it around his fingers, the closest they ever came to a tender gesture when saying goodbye.

"I´ll behave, you hold down the fort, see you in two days."

The men got into the rover and drove off, leaving Wash and Elisabeth Shannon to look after them.

"Lower the gate" Wash called up the tower, stifling a yawn, between Nathaniel´s heartfelt, if wordless apologies and him planning to leave at the crack of dawn she hadn´t gotten more than two hours of sleep.

"Can I ask you something, Lieutenant?"

Elisabeth inquired and Wash looked up, surprised at the request but nodding all the same.

"Sure, go ahead."

The other woman looked slightly embarrassed.

"I don´t really know how to put this and I know it´s none of my business but I can´t help wondering-"

Elisabeth glanced towards the gate and back at Alicia again and Wash understood what this was about.

"You´re wondering about Commander Taylor and me."

"Well, yes- you seem too concerned to just be a friend but I´ve never seen anything between you two that really suggests otherwise, are you just being discreet or is it really nothing more than the strongest friendship I´ve ever witnessed?"

"Dr. Shannon, if we were just being discreet as you put it, don´t you think there´s a reason for that and that I consequently wouldn't tell you otherwise?"

The older woman nodded, a slight smile forming on her face as she drew her conclusions.

"I see, in that case, do you really think this trip isn´t going to be dangerous?"

Wash shrugged as she started to walk in the direction of the mess hall, desperate for a strong cup of coffee.

"You overestimate my influence on the Commander, Doc, I couldn´t keep him from rushing into danger even if I wanted to, it´s who he is but for the record, nothing ever happened to him so far on his fishing trips, so don´t worry too much, they´ll be back in two days and they´ll check in every six hours or so- when does your shift start?"

"Not for another three hours, I´ll go home and catch up on some sleep and then make breakfast for the kids."

"You do that, I´ll come over to the infirmary if I hear anything."

"Thank you."

They parted in front of the mess hall and Wash made her way inside, smiling when she spotted some members of her unit sitting at a table together, nursing their coffees.

She got a cup herself and went to sit down next to Mark who shifted aside to make room for her.

"Morning, boys" she greeted, shaking her head when they made to stand up.

"At ease, just ignore I´m here, I don´t want to ruin your breakfast."

She looked at Mark while the other´s turned back to their previous conversation.

"How´s it going with Maddy?"

"Fine, you were right, her parents didn't find out."

"Good for you, would have been hard to stop Shannon from kicking your ass otherwise."

Mark blushed and Wash chuckled, her hand finding his for a moment.

"Come on, kid, don´t beat yourself up, you wanted to do something special for her, it´s actually rather sweet."

"Sweet?"

He sounded indignant.

"I´m sorry but what else should I call it, you took her to show her a field full of flowers, that´s hardly- unless of course you did something else out there and forgot to mention it to me."

The blush in the young man´s cheek deepened so much Wash almost felt sorry for teasing him- almost.

"Of course not" he assured her hurriedly.

Wash held up her hand to keep him from saying anything else.

"Don´t say anymore, I don´t want to hear it- I´ll see you at the shooting range in twenty."

On her way to the shooting range, Wash radioed Guzman.

"Guz, you copy?"

"Copy, Wash."

"You´re at the comm center?"

"Yeah."

"I´ll be out at the range, if Taylor checks in, tell him I´ll get back to him as soon as I´m back at command."

"Will do, Guzman out."

_Wash had just finished setting up targets when her unit arrived, all of them looking excited, shooting practice was something everyone enjoyed._

_After an hour of walking around, correcting stances and techniques and proudly watching Reynolds breaking his own distance record she gave in to the pleadings for her to demonstrate some of her own skills and went a few rounds with both her sonic pistol and a sniper rifle, leaving her unit staring at her in awe._

_"All right, everyone, that´s it for today, good work."_

_Reynolds and Reilly stayed behind, helping her to collect the targets._

_"That was incredible, Ma´am" Reilly told her, her fingers tracing the perfect hole where six of her superior´s bullets had hit the target in the exactly same spot._

_"Lots of practice, Reilly, hope you guys will never be in a situation where you have to snipe, so don´t be too enthusiastic about it."_

_The younger woman looked at her tentatively, then asked "when was the last time you used one?"_

_"Somalia, ´35, we landed in the jungle, proceeded to take out eight different units without loosing a single man ourselves. I was the smallest and the best shot so I spend most of the time up in trees while Commander Taylor and the others surrounded the camps and took out the one´s who tried to run."_

_She started walking towards the shed where the targets were stored, indicating that the conversation was over, she didn´t like to talk about the Somalian war, not even to her soldiers, too many memories, too much death and the realization that winning didn´t always make it all worth while._

_Wash dismissed her unit and was just climbing the steps to command when her comm came to life._

_"Wash, you copy?"_

_"Copy, Sir- are you there yet?"_

_"Yes, great day, Shannon´s really getting the hang of fishing now- you all good?"_

_"Everything´s fine, Sir, nothing unusual going on."_

_"All right, tell the Doc, Shannon says hello, Taylor out."_

True to her promise, Wash turned around and made her way over to the infirmary instead, looking for Elisabeth Shannon.

"Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"

"Just came to inform you that your husband is all right and says hello, they seem to be having fun."

"At least they haven´t been eaten by anything."

The doctor sounded relieved.

"Lieutenant, while you are here, would you have a look at something for me?"

Wash followed the doctor over to a bio bed where a man was lying, a nasty gash across his thigh, Wash recognized him as one of Guzman´s men.

"What happened, Corporal?"

"Slasher got me, Ma´am, on the way back from outpost four."

Elisabeth Shannon was checking the ragged wound while Wash looked on, it looked nasty and she was certain the man was in a lot of pain.

"I don't get many of those" Elisabeth looked at Alicia, "do you think it´s safe to just close it up, it´s deep and terribly torn at the edges."

"I´d recommend stitching it up, if you just spray it, it´ll close the skin but might do nothing for the muscle underneath."

The other woman ran her fingers though her hair.

"Would you mind doing it, it´s really deep and I´ve never seen anything that ragged, knives don´t tear the flesh like that."

"Sure, no problem, you should sedate him, though, he won´t be going anywhere for a few days."

"Ma´am, I have a shift to get to" the soldier protested but Wash shook hear head.

"I´ll tell Lieutenant Guzman about your injury, I´m sure he´ll be pleased that you insist on finishing your shift but right now you´ll have to heal."

She waited until the sedative had put the man under, then started stitching up the gash as neatly as possible while Elisabeth watched her closely.

"You really are good, I could never have managed stitches that tiny with the skin so torn."

Wash shrugged as she wiped her bloody hands on a towel.

"Slasher wounds are always a mess, I´ve stitched up a lot of those before we managed to get a hang on how to avoid them."

"How bad was it when you first got here?"

"We got used to it, what was much worse was that we couldn´t find Taylor anywhere, he´d stepped through the portal right in front of me and when I stepped out he wasn´t there."

"He told us about that, he said that one hundred and eighteen days passed here while for you it was just a few seconds, how´s that possible?"

"I´m not a scientist, I can´t really explain it, Hope Plaza figured it out before the second pilgrimage came through but that didn't help Commander Taylor."

"How long did it take you to find him?"

Wash paused, she didn´t particularly like to relive the events of that day.

"I wanted to rush off and look for him but Guzman managed to talk me out of it, told me that it would be no good if I went missing, too, so we set up camp and by the time we had lit a few fires, Taylor walked out of the jungle and joined us."

"Just like that?"

"Well, you know the Commander, it takes a little more than a few months of solitary existence in a hostile environment to make him nervous."

Wash smiled half heartedly, remembering the haunted look in her CO´s eyes, the way he had flinched at loud noises and how much she had wanted to simply wrap him into her arms and comfort him but of course that had been out of the question.

Instead she had settled for offering him a report and he had followed her over to one of the tents and out of earshot of everyone else where he had finally told her all about the three months spend all alone in the jungle.

There she had hugged him and for a moment he had actually allowed her to hold him, the tension leaving his body at the contact, he had pulled her hair tie out and buried his face in the dark tresses, deeply inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

Wash had enjoyed the moment of intimacy while it had lasted, she had been aware of the fact that her CO´s feelings for her weren´t as platonic as he liked to pretend even back then but she had also known that he wouldn´t act on it and had tried to tell herself she´d be able to live with it.

The sound of her radio coming to life got Wash out of her musings and she lifted it to her mouth.

"Copy."

"Wash, you´re in the infirmary with Sanders?"

"Yeah, just stitched him up, he´ll have to stay here for a while, it was a nasty gash."

"Damn, I hate Slashers, listen, can I borrow Reynolds, Sanders was to stay OTG for the day to check on the security cams, I don´t have anyone else who´s experienced enough to lead the team."

"Sure, no problem, he´s on duty until sundown and they don´t really need him on the tower, I´ll go get him, Washington out."

She excused herself and made her away over to the tower she had assigned Reynolds to, motioning for him to come down.

"You´re going OTG for a while, Sanders got hurt in a Slasher attack tonight, you´re taking over his team for the day."

"Yes, Ma´am, shall I report to Lieutenant Guzman before I leave?"

"No, it´s fine, I´m going up to command anyway, I´ll tell him you´re on your way."

They walked to the gate together where Reynolds met up with Sanders´ team and Wash waited until they had left before finally making her way up to the office where she found Guzman waiting for her.

"Long morning?"

He asked and she nodded, slumping down into Taylor´s desk chair.

"Yeah, been up since five, didn´t go to sleep until after three."

She stifled a yawn, glaring at her comrade when he smirked.

"Trouble keeping up with the Commander, Wash?"

"If you know what´s good for you stop talking right now."

She warned him, then glanced at her watch.

"Reynolds just left, Horton should be here in an hour, my unit will be at the gate to unload the rovers."

"Ok then, I promised Tasha I´d meet her for lunch, that´s ok with you?"

"Sure, go play Daddy, I´ll be fine."

Guzman chuckled, shaking his head.

"Sometimes I wonder why you enjoy teasing me so much, must be Shannon´s bad influence."

"Say that again and I will really, really hurt you."

Still looking amused Guzman left and Wash turned back to the desk, resigning herself to a long and uneventful day of paperwork.

_"Lieutenant, a word."_

_Wash looked up from the selection of fruit she had been looking at to find Malcolm standing in front of her, looking agitated._

_"A very good morning to you, too, what´s wrong?"_

_"It´s Horton- ever since he got back yesterday he´s messing up everything."_

_Wash turned back to the fruit and choose one, paying for it while half listening to Malcolm who continued to complain._

_Rapidly loosing her patience, Wash took Malcolm´s arm and stirred him away from the market and towards the command center._

_"Look, I know you enjoyed your Horton- free time but now he´s back and you will just have to live with it."_

_"But-"_

_"What´s more, you have not to bother me with it, you have to sort it out yourself."_

_"He´s scared of you, I thought you might-"_

_"Malcolm."_

_Wash drew a deep breath._

_"It´s not my job to run around the colony, frightening people into submission, so get your head out of the sand and stand up for yourself, all right?"_

_The man looked desperate and Wash felt herself melt._

_"All right, I´ll go and talk to him, not sure it´ll do much good, though."_

_"You could at least mention that he´s not my superior and that I did a good job without him here."_

_"Got the point, Malcolm, where is he right now?"_

_"Checking on the apple trees."_

_"Exciting."_

_Wash commentated dryly, thinking that a small excursion out there might be a nice distraction on what was already becoming a tiresome day._

_She pulled her comm out and contacted her CO while making her way over towards the plantations._

_"Hey, Wash, we´re heading back now, just packing up, won´t be there until early in the morning, though, we´ll spend the night at outpost four."_

_"All right, see you tomorrow then."_

_Wash found the scientist with Maddy Shannon, the girl looking slightly irritated._

_"Good morning, Lieutenant Washington" Horton greeted her while Maddy smiled shyly._

_"Horton, Miss Shannon- how was your first day back?"_

_"Good, good, seeing so many new faces, it´s been a real pleasure getting to know everybody."_

_He smiled brightly at Maddy who smiled back rather gloomily, apparently not very impressed with the man._

_"I hope you found everything in order, Malcolm did a good job in your absence."_

_A flash of irritation in the man´s eyes was quickly masked by another smile._

_"Yeah, Malcolm, good man."_

_"Hm- well, I´ll leave you two to it then, have a good day."_

_She walked away, thinking that if anything Horton had only gotten weirder during his stay OTG._

"Guzman to Washington, Wash, you copy?"

Wash reached for her radio, trying to rid herself of sleepiness, she hated being woken up in the middle of the night, it always meant trouble.

"Copy."

"There´s been a break-in in the infirmary, I need you over here ASAP."

Thinking that it was typical that something like that would happen when both the commander and Shannon were OTG, Wash got up and dressed hurriedly before hastening over to the infirmary.

The sun was just rising and Elisabeth Shannon was there along with Malcom and Guzman, all of them looking worried.

"What was stolen?"

"Azimeth" Elisabeth sighed, sounding as though she was close to tears.

"Wait, the schedule two stuff? That was locked into a fridge and you need an access card to get in, how did that happen?"

She didn't wait for an answer but crouched low to examine the broken glass, then straightened up again, looking at the horizon.

"We´ll wait until your husband is back, this is his party."

She told the concerned woman, then asked "just how bad do we need the meds?"

"Really bad, I have patients who´s life is depending on it."

"Malcolm, I want a list with everyone who has an access card on it, Dr. Shannon, go home and have breakfast, I´ll wait for your husband, he´ll come and get you once he´s here, Guz, go home, too, your shift ended two hours ago."

"Yeah, like that ever bothers anymore around here" he winked at her before walking away in the direction of the barracks.

"If anyone needs me, I´ll be at the gate, waiting for the Commander."

Wash made a detour to the commissary and got herself an extra strong cup of coffee before climbing up to the platform of watchtower one.

"Good morning, Ma´am" Dunham greeted her and she nodded at him before reaching for a pair of binoculars.

"Morning, Dunham, quiet night?"

"Yes, Ma´am."

Wash had been up there for barely ten minutes when she caught sight of the rover in the distance and she told Dunham to raise the gate before climbing back down.

Her eyes narrowed when she noticed the absence of her CO and when Shannon got out and told her that Taylor had asked him to tell her he would be staying out for another day, looking for Curran she was less than amused.

She sent Shannon off to the infirmary, telling him to stop by his house on the way to get his wife, then she pulled out her radio set.

"Washington to Taylor."

"Morning, Wash- how you´re doing?"

"The connection is horrible, where the hell are you?"

"Canopy is rather thick here, sorry about that- I´m still with Curran."

"And why would you be?"

"He´s been attacked by a Komodo, thought I´d do him a favor and take the thing out when it attacks."

"Why?"

"Feeling generous."

"Bullshit, Taylor, you´re planning to send him to spy on Mira, aren´t you."

He chuckled.

"Should have known you´d see right through that."

"Someone broke into the infirmary last night, they stole the whole stash of Azimeth, I could use you here."

"You´ll manage perfectly fine without me, Wash."

"If you say so, Sir- check in with me later, will you?"

"Will do, Taylor out."


	12. Chapter 12

**MissCallaLily:** Thank you so much for reviewing, I have it all planned out and feel in desperate need to murder some people who actually deserve it in the most gruesome way ;)

**metube:** Thanks, I´m usually not a fan of flashbacks but those short ones work for the story- yeah, I like Liz and Alicia together anyway, they are interesting because they are so very different on some levels and very much alike on others.

I´m using Boylan as some sort of ´deus ex machina´ in here, assuming that he's been around Taylor longer than Wash has which means he´s witnessed their whole history and is the to-go-person if Wash wants information Taylor´s not willing to give her and he also is the only person to know our golden couple well enough to see through some of their schemes.

Interesting that you would mention my Wash-is-always-busy idea, fact is that she turns up all the time while Taylor is having more or less idle conversations and tells him about serious problems he doesn't seem to know about, so it seemed funny to portray her as the one coming up with ideas and him relying on it.

Next chapter will contain spoilers for Proof and VS. and, just like always, I don´t own anything.

Since I like to believe that Taylor and Wash aren´t as ignorant about what´s going on within the colony as it seems on the show, the whole Shannon/Boylan thing will be deliberately planned out by the Master of Strategy, aka Wash and play out accordingly to plan.

(Some things didn´t seem plausible to me, for example the scene when Wash turns up in the brig and pulls Taylor out of an interrogation because of some problems with a power grid, especially in the tone of voice she´s using, so I took the liberty to cook up some background for it.)

In addition, I´m assuming that Taylor not only hinted to Jim that he is having problems with Lucas but that he also told him that his son is working with the Sixers and plotting against Terra Nova, I need those facts since this part will be all about Wash playing Shannon, Shannon playing Boylan and Boylan playing Shannon on Wash´s orders.

Ok, enough rambling, on to the next part.

* * *

Wash looked up from the desk, it was already dark outside and she had spend the second day in a row doing almost nothing but paperwork, she was beginning to suspect that the real agenda behind Nathaniel´s sudden urge to go on a fishing trip had been to get away from the tiresome job.

"Hey, Wash, you´re having fun?"

"Sure, Shannon, can´t you see that? Anything new?"

"I think I know who took the Azimeth, a guy named Willy checked himself into the infirmary earlier, he´s high on the stuff and he has some bruises that looks like a sonic blast."

Instantly catching on, Wash nodded.

"Good job, Shannon, tell your wife to keep him overnight, we´ll search his house in the morning."

Looking a bit puzzled at the abrupt dismissal Shannon nodded, then turned and left the office while Wash got up from the desk and dimmed the lights.

Wash made sure Shannon was out of side before once again making her way over to Boylan´s bar where she slipped into an empty boot and looked pointedly at Boylan across the room, beckoning him over to her when he caught her eye.

He hesitated, then said something to Josh before walking over to her and sitting down opposite her.

"Something tells me this is not a social visit."

He commented and Wash nodded.

"You´re right, it´s not- I want to know what Josh gets from Mira in return for the Azimeth."

Boylan´s poker face slipped and Wash leaned back into her seat, her arms crossing over her chest.

"How do you-"

"Come on, Boylan, I´m not stupid, this has your handwriting all over it, no one within the colony could profit from this but you, the boy works here and the list of people with an access card is short, it wasn´t that hard to figure out. Besides I saw your financial records and happen to know that your idiotic friend owes you a lot more money than he can ever hope to come by."

"Does Shannon know?"

"I doubt it, good cop as he may be, he doesn't have the same amount of inside knowledge I have."

"And you´re not sharing."

"Only if it´s necessary, so what about the boy?"

"He has a girl in twenty one forty eight, he wants to get her here and Mira´s the only option."

"What do you mean, Mira couldn´t contact the future, she´d need a portal for that."

"Then she apparently has one, I don´t know how she does it, Wash, she just does it."

Wash cursed quietly, then looked up at Boylan again.

"Do you know what you´re doing, Boylan? This isn´t a game anymore, we need the stuff, we have sick people who depend on it."

Boylan ran his hand through his hair.

"You´re right, I didn´t know that we were so short on it, Mira has an epidemic on her hands and I thought we didn't really need it and could wait until the 11th."

"Fantastic, any idea what I´m going to do now?"

"Trust the boy, if his mother tells him how important the stuff is, he´ll give some of it back to her, he´s a good kid, just lacks a bit of guidance."

"Fine, I´ll wait till tomorrow, if none of it has turned up by then, you´ll talk to him, talk to Mira as well, I don´t care, we need those meds."

"Will do, look, I´m sorry, I didn´t want to hurt anyone."

Wash raised her eyebrow at him and got up without commentating on that statement any further.

_After yet another short night, she went to search Billy´s house, not at all surprised when all she could find was one empty bottle._

_Shannon got the man to admit that Boylan was behind the break in and Wash decided to give it another day before she decided what to do, it was possible that Josh would come to his senses yet after all._

_She had just left the housing unit for the command center when her radio came to life in her pocket._

_"Wash, you copy?"_

_"Copy, where are you?"_

_"Good question, somewhere near outpost six, probably about five clicks north."_

_"Did you convince Curran?"_

_"Yeah, I killed the Komodo and Curran is on his way to Mira now, hope they won´t kill him on sight."_

_"If he finds them at all, I´ll come and pick you up now, Shannon can babysit the colony while I`m gone."_

_Taylor agreed and Wash contacted Shannon._

_"You can talk to Boylan later, I need you up at command, Guzman is OTG and I´m going to pick up Taylor now."_

_"I can do that, you should-"_

_"I´m going and you´re staying here, that´s an order."_

_"Yes, Ma´am" came the defiant reply and Wash disconnected as she reached the gate._

_"Dunham, get me two Rhinos, Reynolds, you take the second one, you owe me a favor, keep close to me, we´re going to bring the Commander back."_

_Minutes later, the Rhinos tore through the jungle at Wash´s usual impossible speed but she had to admit that Reynolds was getting good at keeping up with her, he was starting to anticipate her maneuvers and she hardly had to slow down for him to keep up._

_"Washington to Taylor."_

_"Copy, Wash, I`m down by the river now."_

_"All right, meet you there in ten."_

_She was out of the vehicle as soon as it had come to a proper standstill, laughing when Taylor pressed her up agains the Rhino´s side and kissed her._

_"Nathaniel, we´re not alone" she told him but he just shrugged, nodding a greeting towards the second vehicle._

_"Knowing you, you brought Reynolds, he´ll hardly tell on us. I´m not happy with you, just so you know, just the two of you out here is a huge risk."_

_"Guzman is only two clicks south from here with his whole unit, if anything had happened they´d have helped us out."_

_"All right, I´ll let it slide for once, let´s go, I have enough of this place for a while."_

_He filled her in on his meeting with Curran on the way back and Wash told him about Boylan and Josh, causing his expression to darken._

_"Damn it, Mira is starting to get on my nerves, if at least some of the stuff isn´t back tonight, I´m taking the boy in, no matter who´s son he is."_

_"If it isn´t, I´ll be happy to help you."_

_"So she has a portal?"_

_"Not sure if it´s actually a working portal, probably just some sort of communication device but that´s bad enough."_

_"It sure is, I´ll need to make another trip to the falls soon."_

_"Bad idea, Sir, Lucas and Mira will be waiting for something like that."_

_In retrospect his lack of response should have made Wash suspicious but at the moment she was too relieved to have him back safely to dwell on it any further._

"Taylor to Washinton."

"Copying, Sir."

"I need you up at command, now."

"Is everything all right, Sir?"

"Shannon knows about Lucas, I told him."

"You did what? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Not over the line, just get up here."

Wash hurried up the steps and into Taylor´s office and almost ran into her CO who was standing just inside the door.

"Damn it, Taylor, what have you done?"

She hissed while slamming the door behind herself, she was furious and she wasn´t afraid to show it.

"Tune it down, Wash, we don´t need the whole colony to hear-"

"We don´t, then why have you told Shannon in the first place?

Tell me because I don't get it, now all you have to do is tell him about your soldier spying on the Sixers for you and then add the dead body underneath some tree or other and we can both walk out of here and go live in the jungle."

Taylor´s arm closed around her waist in an iron grip, pulling her back against him and she struggled, trying to get away from him but his grip just tightened and she stood perfectly still, waiting for him to speak.

"Calm down, Alicia" he breathed into her ear, "it will be all right."

"How" she whispered, "how will it be all right, he´ll figure it out and then it´ll all go to hell."

She couldn´t breathe anymore, choking on the tears she wouldn´t allow to fall she went limp in his arms, relying on him to keep her upright.

"There´s nothing he can do, whom would he tell, whom could he trust, if not me" Taylor soothed her, his free hand reaching up, freeing her hair from it´s knot, making it fall around her face like a curtain.

He twisted his fingers into the dark mass, pulling Wash´s head back against his shoulder, his lips brushing against her exposed throat and she moaned softly, her eyes fluttering shut.

"That´s my girl" Taylor whispered into her ear, "I´d do anything for you, Alicia, anything to protect you, you know that, right?"

She couldn´t speak, her whole body was tingling, her pulse racing, her entire being corrupted by his seduction, being sucked further into the complicated web of lies and betrayal, love and lust, somewhere on the way she had lost herself in him and now there was nothing she could do but be whatever he needed, wanted, asked her to be.

"You trust me, Alicia, don´t you?"

He asked her, his voice perfectly calm but she could detect the edge to it, knew that only one answer would be acceptable.

"Yes, Sir."

She moaned when the grip on her hair tightened and Taylor laughed softly, his lips grazing her temple, his fingers digging into her stomach.

"My perfect little soldier, what would I ever do without you."

He turned her in his arms and she all but melted into their kiss, her nails digging into his shoulders as he pushed her up against the wall.

"You´re so beautiful, so fragile, so easy to break and yet so strong, you´re the only one who really knows me, the only one who matters to me anymore."

That voice, she could have drowned in that voice, so strong and yet gentle, seductive, telling her the most wonderful things, whatever she needed to hear.

His eyes were burning into her´s now, daring her to defy him again, pleading with her to forgive him and she was falling, desperately clinging to her sanity, knowing that she had lost that particular battle a long time ago.

"I love you" she gasped, the intensity of her emotions stealing her breath away, his arms too tight around her waist, his strength too much for her, overpowering, scaring her and making her feel safe all at once.

He sighed, his lips brushing over her forehead as his grip on her loosed and his hands sneaked underneath her top, warm fingers caressing her skin.

"God help me, I love you too" he smiled sadly at her and she knew he was feeling guilty again, guilty that he had allowed her to fall for him so deeply, guilty that he had burdened her with all his darkest secrets, that he had made her his ally in his crimes, if he went down, so would she.

"You need some rest" she told him quietly, "if Lucas found a way to open the portal, things will get interesting pretty soon."

Taylor chuckled darkly as he let go of her and extended his hand, closing his fingers around her´s when she took it.

"That´s one way to put it- come, you´re right, let´s go home."

_They had been lying in each other´s arms in silence for almost an hour, Taylor´s fingers tracing patterns on Alicia´s bare skin when he finally spoke._

_"I´m scared, Wash."_

_She turned in his arms to look into his face._

_"We knew this would be coming sooner or later, it´s just sooner than we had hoped."_

_"If Mira can communicate with the future it means that Lucas is almost there, we´re not prepared for an attack, we don't have enough soldiers, how are we supposed to stop them."_

_"We´ll need more information to come up with a plan."_

_"Perhaps we were wrong about Boylan, perhaps he has been feeding information to Mira all this time."_

_"Only one way to find out, bring him in and see if you can get the truth out of him."_

_"Will do that first thing tomorrow morning."_

_Wash pressed her lips to his chest, arching against him when his hand trailed over the curve of her hip, his responding laugh was tinged with a darkness that caused shivers to run down her spine._

_His free hand laced into her hair, pulling her head up to meet his in a deep kiss that stole her breath away and before she had time to realize what was happening he had rolled them over and was hovering over her, parting her legs with his knee, she wrapped her legs around his waist when he entered her, her hands on his upper arms as he moved above her._

_Taylor brought her to the edge quickly, then bend down to her ear, his warm breath making making her moan quietly._

_"I love you" he whispered and it was enough, she closed her eyes, the sensation almost too much to bear as she shattered into a million pieces._

_He collapsed on top of her and she held him to her, tightening her grip on him when he tried to move, enjoying his weight pressing her down into the mattress._

_Finally she allowed him to pull her onto his chest instead, listening to the comforting sound of his heartbeat._

"You turned the klaxon on?"

Wash asked, glancing at the small blinking red light next to Taylor´s desk.

He looked up from his plex pad, following her gaze.

"Yeah, I did, he´s not talking, thought he might need some motivation."

Wash rounded the desk and perched on the glass top next to her CO´s chair, her arms crossed.

"You really think he might know something or is it just payback for all the times he´s annoyed you?"

"Come on, Wash, I´m not that petty."

She shrugged, then glanced back at the dancing light.

"I think that´s enough, you don´t want to kill him, do you."

Taylor looked up at her for a long moment, then leaned back in the chair, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"All right, go down there and see if you can get anything out of him."

Wash made her way down to the brick, opening the door and turned the klaxon off, then closed the door behind herself and walked over to Boylan who was sitting on the floor with his hands over his ears, eyes shut tight.

She nudged him with her foot and he jumped, then looked relieved when he realized it was her instead of Taylor.

"Hey, Lieutenant" he rasped, his voice cracking from exhaustion, "came to see how I fare in your cozy little prison?"

"You haven´t seen half of it, Boylan, keep talking like this and I´ll give you a tour. Get up."

He pulled himself back up onto his chair and leaned back against a column while Wash remained standing, hands on her hips.

"I recommend you start talking or Taylor will keep you up here until you rot."

"Damn it, how often do I have to tell you folks, I don´t know anything, I have no idea where Mira gets her information, not from me, that´s for sure."

"And why should we believe that? We know you are doing business with the Sixers, we know you have ways to talk to Mira and you didn´t tell me that she is in contact with 2148 until last week, that fact doesn´t go down too well."

"Damn, Wash, I can´t believe you think I´ve sold information to Mira, do you really or is this all Taylor again?"

"He´s not convinced so I´m not convinced."

She shrugged, ignoring Boylan´s exasperated expression.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk to me, you´ll have to talk to Taylor later."

She made her way over to the door when Boylan stopped her.

"Look, I really don´t know anything I could tell him, you can´t keep me up here forever, my business will be ruined."

"If we are right and Mira has a portal, your business is the last thing you´ll have to worry about in the near future."

Wash spat, then she pulled the door closed behind herself and made her way back up to the command center.

"Any luck?"

She shook her head.

"No joy, Sir- we need to get fresh meds to outpost Nine."

"Damn, I forgot about that- I can´t leave the colony, I need to stay here until we´ve solved the spy situation, need you here, too, I´m spending too much time in the brig with Boylan to let you go."

"Guzman won´t be back until tomorrow afternoon, how about Reynolds, he´s done really well these last few months, he deserves a chance to prove himself."

The commander nodded thoughtfully.

"Sounds like a plan, put a team together, they´ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

_It was almost four in the morning when Wash climbed the steps up to command and made her way down to the brick, sighing when she found Taylor leaning against the wall inside with Boylan asleep on a chair in font of him._

_"Are you planning on coming home at all?"_

_She asked, not bothering to keep the accusing tone out of her voice._

_"Hadn´t really planned that out, what time is it?"_

_"Four am, you´re running yourself to the ground, it´s not worth it."_

_She looked over at Boylan, then back at Taylor, her eyes narrowing._

_"Did you drug him?"_

_"A little bit."_

_Wash stepped over to the prisoner and preyed one of his eyes open, then straightened up again and rounded on her CO._

_"Looks like more than just a little bit, he´s out cold."_

_Taylor shrugged._

_"Might have used more than I thought."_

_"Whatever, he´ll wake up again in a few hours- come home, Nathaniel, what´s the point of staying here and watching him sleep?"_

_He hesitated, then gave in and followed his lieutenant out of the brig._

_They walked towards the barracks in silence, entering Wash´s house._

_"Are you hungry?"_

_"No, just tired, let´s go to bed."_

_"All right, we need to get up again in two hours, see Reynolds off."_

_"I´ll do that, Wash, you sleep a little longer, it´s not your fault that I spent half the night in the brig."_

_"But-"_

_"That´s an order."_

_Scowling Alicia started to walk towards her bedroom with Taylor right behind her, she kicked her boots off and got out of her jeans before crawling into bed and closing her eyes._

_She listened to Taylor undressing, the lights went out and then he slipped onto the mattress next to her, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her into his chest._

_"Goodnight, Wash."_

_He whispered into her ear before pressing as gentle kiss to her shoulder and she couldn´t bring herself to stay mad at him, instead she relaxed against him, her hand finding his, fingers lacing together._

_"Goodnight, Nathaniel."_

When Wash arrived at the gate, Reynolds and his team had already left and Taylor was talking to Jim Shannon who looked concerned about something.

"Morning Sir, Shannon."

"Hey, Wash" Jim greeted her, "the Commander is taking me to visit Boylan."

The deliberate term was so typical Shannon that Wash couldn´t help but smirk.

"Lieutenant, a word before we go."

Taylor interrupted and Wash followed him out of earshot.

"I can´t help it, if I don´t let him see Boylan he´ll only nag even more."

The Commander sounded displeased but Wash could see his point, Shannon wouldn´t give up and they had a few valiant reasons to remain on good terms with the man.

"You think it´s safe to let him in there while Boylan´s in that state? What if he tells him something?"

"I know but there´s not much I can do, is there."

Wash hesitated for a moment, an idea had suddenly come to her, a crazy idea but…

"Sir, would it be such a bad thing if Boylan told him?"

"Beg pardon?"

"Look, Lucas knows so Shannon is bound to find out sooner or later, isn´t he."

"Probably yes, why?"

"In that case, wouldn´t it be better if he found out now while we still have a chance to explain how we see the situation?"

"Interesting point, Lieutenant."

"If Boylan tells him he´ll go and look for the body, see if he informs you, if he doesn´t, tell him the truth and make him feel guilty about not trusting you, might make him more inclined to do so in the future."

"You know, Wash, sometimes you scare me, have you swallowed those books on strategy they made you read at the academy? I´ll take Shannon up there now, get me out of there under some pretense in fifteen."

"Will do, Sir."

_"Right on time, Wash."_

_Taylor smiled at her, then motioned for her to lead the way down to the office._

_"Good thing Shannon´s so predictable."_

_She shrugged, then added "are you sure Boylan will talk?"_

_"Can´t say that until Shannon digs up the body."_

_They had arrived at the office and Wash made sure the windows were closed while Taylor told the men standing guard that under no circumstances they were to be disturbed, then followed his second over to the conference table._

_Wash leaned back against it, her arms crossed as she voiced her concerns._

_"So let´s assume it works and Shannon digs up the body, how exactly are we going to make him talk to you alone?"_

_Her CO stepped closer to her, backing her against the table, then lifted her up onto it and stepped between her legs._

_"I don´t know, I was hoping you might have an idea, you´re better at that stuff than I am."_

_Wash gasped as his lips brushed up her neck._

_"Sir-"_

_"Just keep thinking, Lieutenant, I´ll occupy myself in the meantime."_

_Her eyes fluttered close when his hands pushed her jacket off her shoulders and pulled her top up and over her head, then she moaned softly, his attention doing wonders for her frazzled nerves._

_"Well, I´d say frame him with something, arrest him, then tell him you´ll let him go if he keeps his mouth shut."_

_"Excellent tactics, Wash, any idea how to do it?"_

_He pulled her bra off and she arched against him when his hand found her breast, caressing the soft flesh while kissing her collar bone._

_"Uhm-" she took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heartbeat, "that´s the problem, Shannon is a goddamn saint."_

_She bit her lip, her head falling back as he pressed himself closer to her._

_"Well, you certainly are not" Taylor chuckled as he unzipped her fatigues and helped her to get out of them._

_She laid down onto the table, looking up at him as he undid his own trousers before leaning over her, lacing his fingers through her´s and pulling her arms up over her head._

_"I hope the problem with the power grid was just a distraction, Wash, I don´t plan on letting you out of here again anytime soon."_

_Her legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him to her, her muscles tightening when he pushed into her and began to thrust slowly, holding her gaze._

_"Sure was, Sir" she gasped, meeting his thrusts by pushing back up against him, all thoughts of Shannon or Boylan long since forgotten._

When Jim walked back into the office, Wash was sitting behind Taylor´s desk, looking at surveillance pictures on the screen before her.

She glanced up, taking in Jim´s nervous expression and leaned back in her chair, careful to keep her face void of emotion.

"Shannon, you look troubled, are you all right?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure- where´s Taylor?"

"The Commander is down by the gate to wait for Guzman- has Boylan told you anything?"

"What, me? No, nothing."

Fighting the urge to ask him if he could be anymore obvious, Wash shrugged disinterestedly.

"Ok then, I suppose I´ll see you later."

Shannon all but ran out of the office and Wash got up, following at a much slower pace.

When she arrived at the gate, Guzman´s unit had just begun to unpack their rovers, the lieutenant speaking to Taylor near by.

Wash stepped over to the men, merely nodding at her CO who instantly caught on and dismissed Guzman before motioning for his second to follow him.

"Shannon could´t get out of command quickly enough."

"I saw him walk towards the lab, any idea to that?"

"Not exactly, let´s go and find out."

Shannon wasn´t there anymore when they arrived but Malcolm told them without hesitation that Jim had been in to ask about Pilgrim´s tree.

Taylor glanced at Wash, then started talking to their science officer about Andrew Fickett while the lieutenant made her way out of the lab again, quickly walking towards her housing unit.

She changed into a pair of dark camo fatigues and strapped her gun back to her thigh, then pulled her hair out of it´s usual ponytail, it would be useful to hide her face later.

The sun was already beginning to set and Wash paced up and down in her living room impatiently, when it was finally completely dark outside, she slipped out of her back door and crept along the outside wall of the barracks, crouching low in the shadows until the night patrol had passed.

Climbing through the fence was easy and Wash quickly made her way out to the tree Taylor had once lived in, she hid in the undergrowth near by and had only waited for a little over ten minutes when Jim Shannon turned up and began to look around at the roots of the tree.

The man was quick to find the body and dug it up and Wash didn´t wait for him to finish, she withdrew quietly, then straightened up and began to jog towards the colony, glad when she didn´t come across any predator on her way back.

She had to wait for a few minutes before she could sneak back inside the fence, two soldiers on patrol blocking her way and when they had moved on, Wash slipped through the lowest gap and pulled out her radio set.

"He´s on his way back" she muttered, then turned the radio off again and continued on to her back door, once again making sure she couldn´t be seen by keeping to the shadows of the barrack´s wall.

She changed into a white tank and black leather trousers before settling down on her sofa with a plex pad, waiting for her CO.

It was almost two hours later that Taylor finally closed her front door behind himself, looking grim.

"You were right, he took then body to the infirmary, probably hid it somewhere to show to his wife in the morning, he saw I was still up at command when he went home, didn´t come up to talk to me."

Wash put the plex pad aside and got up to fetch something to eat from the kitchen, Taylor following her, leaning against the counter.

"Everything went smoothly out there?"

"Made it out and back in under an hour, no problems."

"Still got what it takes, Lieutenant."

She glanced up, smiling lightly.

"If you say so, Sir."

_Wash was waiting for Mark to check in again, when Taylor entered the communication center, looking grim._

_"Shannon was in the brig, without authorization, I went down there to see what was going on, he outright lied to me."_

_"Can´t really blame him, from where he stands, this looks really bad."_

_"Suppose you´re right, Boylan is either starting to crack or he´s provoking me, kept on babbling about beautiful spots and naps in the shade."_

_The sound of Taylor´s comm interrupted them and he listened intently, his eyes narrowing as he switched the device off again._

_"I have to go and see Malcolm, apparently he found out how the Sixers are communicating with their spy, you stay here, wait for Reynolds to check in again, Guz can relieve you later."_

_"Yes, Sir."_

_Wash waited for a while, getting more and more anxious, it wasn´t like Mark to discard regulations and finally she lost her patience and tried reaching him herself._

_When he didn´t answer, Wash summoned Reilly up and told her to stay there until she was told otherwise before rushing outside and down to the gate._

_She met Guzman there, he was instructing his man and looked up, alarmed when he noticed Wash´s expression._

_"What happened?"_

_"I lost contact with Reynolds, he should have checked in forty minutes ago."_

_Before Guz could answer, one of the guards caught their attention and they turned towards the gate, noticing the rovers making their way towards the colony._

_"Raise the gate" Wash yelled, then waited impatiently for the vehicles to come to a stop, running towards Mark when he got out first, he stood at attention but Alicia didn´t acknowledge his formal greeting, instead she reached up to trail her fingertips along a gash at his hairline._

_"Mira?"_

_"Yes, Ma´am."_

_"This needs stitches, are you hurt anywhere else?"_

_"No, Ma´am."_

_"Damn it, Mark, cut the crap, talk to me."_

_Despite the seriousness of the situation the young man managed a small smile._

_"I´m fine, Wash, stop fussing, you´re almost as bad as my girlfriend."_

_Punching his arm she shook her head, feeling relieved that nothing worse had happened to him._

_"I´ll go and get the Commander, stay here, he´ll want to hear what happened first hand."_

_She found her CO with Malcolm and he followed her outside instantly._

_"Reynolds got ambushed, they took everything but the vehicles, I´d just checked in with them when they were hit."_

_"Mira?"_

_"She was at the lead."_

_A fresh surge of hate towards the other woman surged through Alicia when she once again saw the wound on Mark´s head, being kidnapped herself was something Wash could live with but hurting her soldiers was something else entirely._

_Taylor told Mark to go to the infirmary and the young man left to check out his team while Wash turned towards her CO, not happy about what she had to tell him._

_"I put that convoy together after you had Boylan in the hole. He couldn´t have told Mira where to hit them."_

_Taylor shook his head._

_"I don´t trust that reptile."_

_He hesitated and Wash waited with baited breath, wondering if she might have gone to far with her wordless suggestion to release Boylan but then Taylor turned towards her, his expression resigned._

_"I suppose you´re right, let him go."_

_"Sir."_

_She started walking towards the brig, pausing briefly to watch Maddy Shannon all but tackle Reynolds, the girl was babbling again but Mark looked utterly charmed by his girlfriend´s concern._

_Thinking how nice it must be to be so young and innocent, Wash continued on and found Boylan asleep on the floor, his skin sickly pale, hair sticking out in all directions._

_She crouched down next to him and shook him awake._

_"You can go" she told him, waiting until he had managed to stand up before handing him a jug with water, watching as he gulped it down eagerly._

_"Thanks, Wash."_

_"What for?"_

_"Ah, come on, I know whom I have to thank for getting out of here, Taylor wouldn´t have dreamed of it without some means of persuasion."_

_Wash shrugged, motioning towards the door._

_"I´d suggest you cut this short before I start asking about your last conversation with Shannon."_

_Boylan sighed._

_"How do you know about that now?"_

_"I took a little walk tonight, might have stumbled across our good cop out at Pilgrim´s tree."_

_Boylan nodded, not looking surprised._

_"Look, I don´t know how you do it and I´m not even sure I want to know but I didn´t tell him on purpose, couldn´t even remember telling him, Taylor put something in my food."_

_"Shannon will ask more question, answer them."_

_"Trust me, of course I won´t- what?"_

_"I said answer them."_

_"Why on earth would you want me to do that?"_

_"Shannon knows about Lucas, about him trying to find a way to communicate with Hope Plaza and that he´s working against us, Taylor told him that already."_

_"Why-"_

_"Shannon´t not going to tell you that, he doesn't trust you anymore than he trusts Taylor right now."_

_"So what, I just tell him the truth?"_

_"Foreign concept to you, isn´t it- yeah, you tell him the truth."_

_Boylan was still looking suspicious._

_"You´re going to frame me again, right?"_

_"Why should we? You´re not the spy, what reason would we have to keep you here?"_

_"Yeah, why indeed- either you have a brilliant plan, or you´re finally cracking, Lieutenant."_

_"That´s for me to know and for you to find out- now get out of here, I have other things to do."_


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter is going to be important for the conclusion of the story, so if some things seem confusing, please grin and bear it, it´ll make sense in time- umm, hopefully… ;)

So there will be spoilers for VS. and Now you see me and since I just love Mira and Wash together, there´ll be another scene with them both, there´s also going to be bonding time for Wash and Jim, she´ll be full of remorse for having treated him so bad and he´ll be his usual forgiving self- oh and some emotional difficulties for our golden couples- enjoy :D

**MissCallaLily:** Aw, how sweet are you- thanks so much- don´t worry, will do, bloody and disgusting ;)

**metube:** Ok, that´s one of those occasions when it´s actually more complicated to reply to a review than to write the next chapter- let´s see: First things first, never worry to tell me how you feel about things I write, I´m perfectly fine with that and enjoy constructive criticism.

In my opinion Taylor isn´t a nice guy- I love him and I understand where he´s coming from most of the times but he also has some sides to him that are slightly disturbing, he´s manipulative, a control freak and he uses people to archive what he wants.

He claims he only does it to protect the people he´s responsible for but especially when he talks to Jim in the brig and tells him that he will fight alone if it means to let Terra Nova´s citizens believe that they are working for a good thing and a future, it´s plain that he also can´t accept that his ´baby´ might not prosper the way he wants and he´s basically making his people believe that they are living in paradise when in fact they are short of being pulled into war.

Also he in fact DID kill his commanding officer because he didn´t want give up his command, he has a torture chamber where he holds people without a real reason, he doesn't play by his own rules, he runs Terra Nova like his own personal playground, no lawyers, no judges, no jury, what Taylor wants, Taylor gets.

Also he does plant the transmitter in Jim´s house and arrests him under that pretense, there´s no way to ignore all that, so when I decided to have Wash stand truly by his side and be aware of all his doings, I had to make her his ally, which of course doesn´t mean that she takes accepts it all without protest, she will apologize to Jim and she will deny Taylor his wish for a child but given the way I´ve portrayed them here, she mostly agrees with Taylor´s hard line.

Good question- I suppose I´ll finish the story around the timeline the season was over, too, not quite sure yet.

* * *

"They are communicating with a dragonfly?"

They walking along the fence, just having started on noon patrol, Wash looking inquiringly at Taylor who nodded.

"I know, sounds crazy. At least the damn thing can´t fly anymore, so they´ll have to train a fresh bug now."

"Shame there´s no way to find out who did it, Mira will already know she can´t use it anymore, so even without the broken wings it would probably be useless."

"You mean the spy has turned the signal down by now."

"Yeah, at least that´s what I would have done."

The commander nodded gloomily, hands in his pockets as he walked next to his second.

"Commander."

They both turned around to see Malcolm hurrying towards them.

"I need you in the infirmary, there´s an body we can´t identify, Dr. Shannon didn´t know that she was to call you straight away."

Not giving away that he knew that Malcolm was covering for his friend, Taylor ordered his lieutenant to complete the patrol alone and followed the other man towards the infirmary.

Wash had just arrived back at the gate when Taylor radioed her and asked her to meet him at her house ASAP.

"What´s so urgent?"

"Think you can break into Shannon´s house without anybody noticing?"

"Sure, why?"

"Malcolm managed to repair that dragonfly´s wings and he told me what frequency it´s responding to."

"Interesting- you think he´ll confront you just like that?"

"It´s Shannon, Wash, he can´t keep quiet for one moment, he´ll start messing with me as soon as I have him in the brig."

"Let´s hope you´re right, what time are we setting the bug free?"

She hoped her apprehension wasn´t audible in her voice, she wasn´t exactly afraid of dragonflies but the one in question was really big and really disgusting and she would have to follow it for an unknown amount of time.

"Soon as the festival starts- you´re not afraid of the thing, are you, Wash?"

He sounded amused and she huffed, her hands on her hips.

"Of course not."

Taylor chuckled, his hands closing around her upper arms as he pulled her in for a kiss, his fingers combing through her ponytail before he released her again.

"All right then, let´s get started.

_Wash was looking at the dragonfly, hoping it wouldn´t come any closer, now that she was so near to it, the thing seemed even more disgusting than previously._

_She felt Taylor´s amused glance on her and focussed on Malcolm instead of the insect, the science officer had activated a transmitter and when the dragonfly disappeared through the window, they followed, ignoring people´s irritated looks as they did their best to catch up with the bug._

_The Commander ordered Mark Reynolds to come with them and finally, after a wild chase through the housing units, the insect crawled through a window and into the Shannon´s house._

_Both Malcolm and Mark expressed their surprise and horror at the implication while Taylor threw Wash a proud glance before motioning for the other´s to follow him back towards the market place._

_They met Jim and Elisabeth Shannon sooner than they had expected and Wash kept her eyes trained on Shannon´s face while Taylor accused him of conspiracy against the colony, trying to suppress a twinge of guilt at the look on the other man´s face._

_Even though she´d never dream of doubting her CO in any way, she knew that Shannon was a good guy, a man who believed in people, who took risks to make sure he did the right thing and they were playing him to ensure their own agendas wouldn´t be endangered._

_But then they needed Shannon to trust Taylor unconditionally and the only way to guarantee it, was to get through to him how dangerous Lucas actually was to Terra Nova, show him that in fact they all wanted the same thing, to protect their people whatever the price might be._

_A tiny voice in the back of her mind told Wash that Taylor might also hope to impress on the other man once and for all who was calling the shots in the colony but it was firmly ignored._

_Mark took Shannon away and Alicia made to follow Taylor when she felt Elisabeth´s hand on her arm, the older woman looking at her pleadingly._

_"You can´t really believe this, this is just wrong, he´s innocent."_

_Wash kept her expression blank, hands clasped behind her back as she looked back at the other woman._

_"I´m sorry, Dr. Shannon, it´s not my place to question the Commander´s decisions."_

_"Alicia" Elisabeth pleaded, "I know you trust Taylor but don´t you trust Jim, too? You know him, he would never-"_

_"Lieutenant."_

_Taylor´s voice sounded impatient and Wash nodded curtly at Elisabeth before striding over towards her CO who was waiting for her to catch up._

_"What took you so long, you can comfort her later, right now I need you at the steps, don´t let anyone up there."_

_"Yes, Sir."_

_He briefly clasped her shoulder, then climbed the steps up to the commander center while Wash joined Malcolm and Mark beneath the balcony._

_"Go and take care of her, will you?"_

_Wash asked Malcolm, nodding over at Elisabeth who was hovering near by, looking devastated._

_"Ok."_

_The man walked off towards his friend while Wash turned to Mark, the young man looked tense and she asked herself for the up tenth time why it had had to be Reynolds of all people who they had happened across while following the dragon fly._

_"Do you really think he´s guilty?"_

_Mark asked, sounding hopeless and Wash felt herself soften, she put her hand on her Corporal´s arm and smiled soothingly up at him._

_"We´ll see, it might just be a mistake."_

_"Hopefully, I really don´t want to be the one explaining this to Maddy."_

_They stood in silence, watching the sun set and it was already dark when Shannon and Taylor came outside again, Shannon smiling at his frazzled looking wife, Taylor´s face open and friendly again as he addressed them._

_"Mr. Shannon is free to go."_

_Wash arranged her face into a mildly puzzled expression and turned to her CO._

_"I thought you said he was a Sixer spy, Sir."_

_"I was mistaken."_

_He explained how the dragonfly had followed the frequency of Shannon´s pistol charger, then dismissed Wash and Reynolds, the young man hesitating, still looking at Shannon._

_Wash slapped her soldier´s chest, getting him out of his trance and he followed her over into the crowd._

_"Go on, get changed and find your girl."_

_She watched him hurry towards the barracks, wondering if she should go home and get out of her uniform as well, then a smile graced her face when she felt her CO step up behind her, close enough for her to feel his body heat against her back._

_"You´re looking tense, everything all right?"_

_His voice was low, meant only for her to hear and she briefly allowed herself to lean back against him before turning around and looking up into his face._

_"What did he say?"_

_"He´ll help us fight."_

_Wash nodded, now she felt even worse and Taylor´s eyes narrowed._

_"Talk to me, Wash, what´s wrong?"_

_"I should have trusted him more, I´ve been working with him for months."_

_"Better be safe than sorry, Wash, if it makes you feel better, go and talk to him."_

_"Are you serious?"_

_He shrugged._

_"Sure, I didn´t tell him that you know anything about it all, it´s not for me to say, I feel bad enough about that as it is. If you want to trust him, it´s your own decision."_

They met again later at the gate, both relieved to get away from the noise and the crowd.

"Evening, Lieutenant" Taylor teased gently, leaning back against the wooden fence next to her.

"Sir."

She nodded at him, then looked back over towards the dancing people in front of the stage.

"Your speech was nice."

"You wrote it."

She chuckled, amusement audible in her voice.

"Wouldn´t want to concern you with such trivial matters, Sir. They named their son after you."

He nodded, smiling warmly at the thought of the tiny baby boy.

"Yeah, poor kid will be teased something awful."

"He won´t, they´ll all look up to him, you´ll see."

"You ever thought about it, Wash?"

She turned towards him, feeling confused.

"Thought about what?"

"Kids."

It took her a moment to comprehend what he was asking and she stared back at him, her eyes wide.

"Having them?"

His smile widened, adapting a teasing quality.

"Sure, Wash, having them, now have you?"

Not having the slightest idea what he was playing at, Wash shook her head.

"Can´t say that I have, Sir."

"Drop the title, Wash, that´s no conversation for being formal."

She narrowed her eyes at him, feeling slightly suspicious.

"You are being serious?"

"Why shouldn´t I be?"

"You said it yourself, I´m not the maternal type, I´m a soldier."

"It´s not unheard of" Taylor offered, looking utterly relaxed while Wash felt herself tense up even more.

"Why are we having this conversation, do you want another kid?"

He couldn´t be serious, his son was out there, threatening them and everything they had worked for, the son they both had ruined, even though Wash hadn´t been aware of the part she had played in the drama that was Lucas Taylor´s life.

She was being maneuvered into the shadow of one of the towers, her back against the fence, Taylor´s arms trapping her as his gaze burned into her´s.

"This isn´t about Lucas, this is about you, about us. I love you, Alicia and I want a family with you, is that really so hard to understand?"

She sighed, leaning her forehead against his shoulder, unable to hold his gaze any longer, she couldn´t even say that she had been afraid of this particular conversation, she´d never have dreamed it possible that Nathaniel would ask this of her.

It was an insane idea, impossible, Taylor had already lost his wife and son to a war, how could he even consider risking that again?

Realizing that he was still waiting for an answer she looked up again, the fire in his eyes had given way for a closed expression, he had understood her silence perfectly and Alicia realized that there wasn´t anything left to say.

"I´m sorry" she whispered and when he stepped away from her she instantly missed his warmth.

He ran his hand through his hair, nodding resignedly.

"Me, too- I didn´t know you feel so strongly about this, had I known, I wouldn´t have mentioned it."

There was a long moment of silence and Wash didn't like the way he was looking at her, as thought he was seeing her in a whole new light.

Finally she couldn´t take his disappointment anymore.

"I´m scheduled to go to Outpost Nine with the survey team tomorrow."

The fact that he didn´t react told her all she needed to know and she felt tears dwell in her eyes but resolutely forced them not to fall and instead stood up straight, her face void of all emotion.

"Permission to take my leave, Sir."

"Granted, Lieutenant" he replied quietly, sounding so lost all Wash could do was to keep herself from throwing herself back into his arms and promising him whatever he wanted to hear.

Instead she walked past him and back towards the crowd, she was determined to avoid everyone and simply hide away into her house but of course she didn´t get so lucky, instead she ran into Jim Shannon who was standing in the shadows near the stage, watching people dance.

"Hey, Wash, you ok? You look-" he hesitated, then settled on "upset."

"It´s nothing, Shannon, I´m just tired."

"Nonsense, come on, talk to me."

She made to walk past him but a gently hand on her arm stopped her and she turned towards him, briefly closing her eyes.

"I owe you an apology."

Shannon was looking back at her expectantly, not willing to make it any easier for her and she found that she found it uncharacteristically hard to look into his honest blue eyes.

"I know Taylor told you he did it all alone but that´s not true."

Comprehension dawned on Jim´s face.

"Of course, why doesn´t that even shock me? You´d do anything for him, wouldn´t you?"

His question instantly brought back her conversation with Nathaniel and to her own surprise and horror the tears she had forced down so hard finally spilled over as she drew a deep shuddering breath.

"Ah, come on."

The embrace was comforting but Alicia couldn´t bring herself to accept it, not from Jim of all people, she didn´t deserve his sympathy.

She struggled halfheartedly but he would´t let go of her, instead he pulled her even closer, his breath warm against her cheek.

"I´m so sorry" she sobbed, "you´re such a good guy and I just- I´m sorry, I really am."

She felt him pull away slightly, one of his arms remaining firmly around her waist as he pulled her with him towards the housing units.

"Let´s talk somewhere else, here isn´t a good place."

She allowed him to lead her over to the housing units and Jim held the door for her before nudging her to go and sit on the couch.

"You want a drink?"

"Sure."

She managed to compose herself again as she watched Shannon pour two glasses of Bourbon and when he sat down next to her she accepted her glass from him and drained it.

"Another one?"

"Please."

"Here you go- now talk to me, Wash."

She studied him for a moment, then threw back the second glass and put it down onto the table.

"I´ll tell you what I did this week and then you get to decide wether you want to leave or stay."

Looking slightly weary Jim nodded.

"All right then."

"I suggested to Taylor to test your loyalty, I told him to leave you alone with Boylan, got him out of the brig under a pretense, then I watched you dig up the body and told Boylan to tell you all he knew about it to keep you interested."

She was watching Shannon´s reaction carefully but he seemed determined to be there for her, no matter what she might tell him and that made Wash feel even worse.

"I hid the transmitter in your house, the whole arrest, all that happened afterwards, it was all staged, every word between Taylor and me was for show."

She avoided his gaze, only looking up again when his fingers closed around her chin, gently lifting her face to his.

"We all do stupid things for the ones we love, me too, remember?"

"That was different, they had your kid, there wasn´t really a choice."

"I´d done the same for Elisabeth- I´m not blind, Wash, I know that you´re in love with him."

She sighed, suddenly exhausted.

"Am I really that transparent?"

Jim chuckled, letting go of her and leaning forward to pour her another glass of Bourbon.

"I´m a cop, Wash, a good one, you guys could just have talked to me, would have been less complicated."

"I know that now, I won´t doubt you again."

"Can I quote you on that?"

He winced when she playfully punched his arm.

"Don´t be such a baby, that can't have hurt."

"Did hurt, too" he mumbled, rubbing his arm, before asking "so after we´ve established that I´m brilliant and irreplaceable, what happened with you and Taylor tonight?"

Wash pondered the question for a moment, wondering if she could really trust him but then she decided to simply give in to the desire to open up to someone for once.

"He wants kids."

Shannon seemed speechless for a moment, he gaped at her, then visibly pulled himself together.

"Ok- and you don´t."

It wasn´t a question.

"It´s not that easy, I simply never thought about it, I´ve been in love with him so long, I never pictured myself in a relationship with anyone else, no matter how hopeless it seemed and I never thought- after what happened with Lucas, after what probably will happen soon- how can he even think of bringing a child into all this?"

"Have you told him that?"

"We haven´t really talked about it and I´m not sure we well, it´s not who we are."

"It might help."

She shrugged halfheartedly, he was right and it might have helped but she wouldn´t even have known how to start such a conversation and judging from how easily Nathaniel had let her go earlier, he wasn´t keen on discussing the topic further, either.

The sound of Wash´s comm made her pull away and press the reply button.

"Washington."

"Evening, Lieutenant."

"Boylan, what do you want and why do you even have a comm?"

"I don´t only have a comm, I can also hack into your frequencies. Where are you, Taylor is looking for you, he doesn´t look happy."

"I told him I was leaving."

"Says he´s looked at your house and you aren´t there."

"Why didn´t he call himself?"

"He´s pretending not to be worried."

"All right, I´ll take care of it."

She switched the radio off and got up from the sofa, smiling apologetically at Jim.

"Taylor´s looking for me."

"I´ll come back with you, it´s high time to get Zoe into bed and I want to check on Reynolds and Maddy, who knows what they are doing right now."

Wash couldn´t help but smile.

"Don´t worry, I beat a lot of discipline into that boy, he´ll do all right by Maddy."

"He will if he knows what´s good for him."

They made their way back over to the market in silence, Wash feeling tired and a little light headed from too much alcohol in a too short amount of time, all she wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep for a few hours, she´d have to get up for her trip OTG before dawn.

She bid Jim goodbye and began looking for her CO, finally locating him in front of the command center, talking to Corporal Reilly.

The younger woman smiled at Wash, then excused herself, leaving her superiors alone.

"Where´ve you been?"

Taylor looked her upside down, his eyes narrowing slightly when he took in her red rimmed eyes and tousled hair tumbling down her back.

"I was talking to Shannon."

She didn´t offer any further explanation and he didn't ask for any, instead he said "have you been crying?"

He reached for her chin, tipping it up as he studied her face.

"Damn, you really have been crying, Wash, why do you talk to Shannon about it, why don't you talk to me?"

Looking at him was hard, his blue eyes too intense, too demanding and she was exhausted.

"I didn´t have the feeling you wanted to talk about it."

This was getting ridiculous, they had known each other for the better part of two decades, when had talking become complicated between them?

"Look" she began, desperately in need to sort this out quickly, before it could settle and fester and ruin them, "I don't want things to be awkward between us, I simply can´t understand why you would bring up such a topic now, with Lucas out there making plans to destroy everything, to destroy you."

"Is it really that? Or are you afraid I´d mess up another child as much as I messed up Lucas?"

The edge in his voice told Wash that he was actually considering this, however ridiculous it might be and she didn´t quite know how to react, Taylor was usually so sure of himself, never openly admitting to any self doubts and it felt strange, even scary that she had so much power over him.

"Of course not, you´ve been a good father, I was there."

"You still think what happened is my fault."

"I said you should have gone after them, I didn't say you were responsible for him going completely crazy on us."

Taylor bit his lip, then nodded heavily.

"All right, we´ll talk about this again after we´ve solved the situation with Lucas and Mira, can we both live with that?"

"Why aren´t you worried that I´ll mess up our child, I have no experiences with kids and I can´t say I´m especially fond of them, either."

"That´ll all change when you have your own."

She rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"Now we´re talking cliches? I think it´s high time for bed."

"Want me to tug you in?"

"Does that mean I´m forgiven?"

"Nothing to forgive, Wash, like always you´re my voice of reason."

_"You go ahead, I´ll be with you in a few."_

_Ignoring Guzman´s worried look, Wash began to climb down the rocks towards the river, she needed to see for herself if Lucas had drawn any new equitations, it would keep Nathaniel from coming out here to do it herself._

_Guzman and the rest of the team were just up on the clearing, if she got into trouble, he´d be there within minutes to help her out._

_A movement to her right made her tense and duck, then her heart began to beat faster when she realized that it was Mira and that she was all alone, an opportunity too good to miss._

_Wash drew her pistol and took aim, seeing the other woman tense at the familiar sound._

_"Stop walking, lift your hands over your head and turn around."_

_Mira did as she was told and Wash slowly advanced on her, weapon still trained on the other woman´s head._

_She reached out and pulled the knife out of Mira´s shed, throwing it into the water behind them, then she pulled a pair of cuffs out and tied the Sixer´s hands behind her back._

_"Washington, how nice to see you, have you met Taylor?"_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"Just parted with him, we spend a nice, cozy night beside a roaring campfire."_

_Wash´s lingers clenched around the trigger of her pistol, she almost wished Mira had had given her a reason to shoot her but now that she had the other woman tied up, she couldn´t use her as a let out for her frustration anymore._

_"Keep talking, Mira and I might turn you loose and hunt you down."_

_"I don´t think Taylor would like that much, you see, he let me go."_

_"You´re lying, he never would do that."_

_"Maybe you don´t know him that well after all."_

_Alicia´s comm unit sounded and she pulled it out and pressed the reply button without letting Mira out of her sight._

_"Copy."_

_"Wash, I just ran into the Commander."_

_Realizing that Mira´s story was true after all, at least to some extent, Wash drew a deep, calming breath, then said "let me talk to him."_

_"Hey, Wash- you´re ok down there?"_

_"I got company, Sir- perhaps you´d better come down here and run your newest protocol by me."_

_Catching on instantly Taylor turned the radio off and Wash kept her weapon pointed at Mira´s head while waiting for her CO._

_Taylor joined them minutes later, his expression unreadable as he looked from Wash to Mira and back again._

_"Good to see you, Lieutenant."_

_"Likewise, Sir."_

_She could feel Mira´s curiosity but neither she nor Taylor gave the slightest indication that their greeting was more than the reunion of the Commander and his second._

_"Taylor, call your rabid little lapdog off and let me go."_

_Mira sounded impatient._

_"Not my call to make, Mira, I´m not the one who caught you."_

_"You´re her CO, you can make her, come on, is this some little stunt so you don´t have to break the truce, did you know she was here?"_

_The Sixer sounded frustrated now and Wash was burning to know what had happened between the two of them._

_"I didn´t, Lieutenant Washington wasn´t scheduled to return to the colony until tomorrow."_

_"It didn't take as long as we thought it would" Wash answered the question hanging in the air and Taylor nodded, then turned back to Mira._

_"I´m sorry but after what happened last time you two ran into each other I can hardly order her to just let you go."_

_"We had an agreement, Taylor, you can´t just break that."_

_Wash was rapidly reaching the end of her patience with their little game, she was tired and hungry and she wanted to go home._

_"Sir, are we going to take her back to Terra Nova or not?"_

_Taylor looked thoughtful for a moment, then he turned to Mira again._

_"There´s something I have to do and soon, you know what I mean- I want you to promise that if it comes to the worst, you will do it for me."_

_Mira seemed to be as confused as Wash for a moment, then her eyes widened._

_"Are you serious?"_

_"Yeah- if I can´t do it, you do it for me, do we have a deal?"_

_"All right, Taylor, I´ll do it."_

_"Good- Wash, let her go."_

_"Yes, Sir."_

_Wash reluctantly unlocked the cuffs around Mira´s hands and put them back into her pocket, keeping the gun trained on the other woman until she was out of sight before turning to Taylor._

_"So you spent the night with her, hm?"_

_"That´s what she said?"_

_"She did."_

_"How come she´s still in one piece?"_

_"I already had her tied down, couldn´t do anything about it."_

_Wash growled, putting her gun back into it´s holster and starting to climb back up towards the clearing._

_"This isn´t over, is it?"_

_Taylor asked, sounding far too amused for Wash´s taste._

_"Far from it, Sir."_

"Hey, Wash, good to have you back."

"Shannon- did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Well, we´ve narrowed down the number of possible spies to forty seven and we know it´s a woman."

"Great, we´re making progress" Wash replied, trying to keep her sarcasm in check, she had been gone for four days and all he managed was to narrow down to forty seven?

"I know, it´s not much-" Shannon´s voice trailed away when she spotted the Commander getting out of one of the rhinos.

"Guess you found him."

"Sure did- so how are you going to further narrow down your list?"

"Not sure yet, I´ll think about it and let you know tomorrow."

"That´ll work, see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, Night, Wash."

Shannon waited for Taylor to catch up with him and the two men walked up to the command center while Wash stayed at the gate, overlooking the unloading of the rhinos.

Finally she made her way up to the office, finding it empty except for Taylor who was sitting behind his desk, looking thoughtful.

"Shannon says he narrowed down the list to forty seven."

"Yeah, I know- that´s still a long list."

"Sure is- I told him to hurry up and find out, I´m getting tired of this, according to Mira Lucas is almost finished with his calculations and then it´ll get ugly."

"Is that why you let her go? Because she told you about Lucas?"

"Partly- we ended up fighting some Slashers together, she´s a good fighter, Mira, pity she´s on the wrong side."

Wash crossed her arms over her chest, feeling more annoyed by the moment.

"How nice, so you two bonded over family history and old war stories?"

"Kind of did, Mira has a daughter in ´48, kid´s sick, she needs the money to help her."

"How noble."

"No need to sound so sarcastic, Wash, it´s her kid."

"Yeah, I know and that´s a justification for everything, isn´t it."

Taylor got up from his chair and rounded the desk, ignoring her struggles as he pulled her to him and enclosed her in his arms.

"No, it isn´t but it´s hard to be reasonable for a parent when their child is concerned."

Alicia finally gave up and relaxed into his arms, she had missed him and she as tired of fighting about things they´d never see eye to eye about.

True, she didn´t have any kids and couldn´t really pretend to know what it was like to be a parent but she was fairly sure that there was a limit and Lucas Taylor had long since crossed that line.

She could understand Nathaniel in a way, he was feeling guilty, felt that he let his son down and that the change in him was his fault and after the recent developments Wash felt the weight of her CO´s decision rest heavily upon her own shoulders as well.


	14. Chapter 14

_This chapter is going to be a collection of bits and pieces, there are about forty seconds screen time for Wash in this ep, so I tried to fill in conversations she might have had with people in the meantime._

_Next chapter will get the drama rolling and I´m already scared to write it, especially the attack on the colony, it´ll be horrible and emotional and since I want to include more Wash/Taylor moments, I´ll have her talk to Taylor via comm unit while the attack is happening, while he´s trying to get back in time and while she surrenders, so yeah, like I said, drama… But that´s next chapter, right now it´s just talking, most of the time._

**MissCallaLily:** Thank you- glad you liked that part, I wanted to get some emotional conflicts in, I needed some human side of Wash ;) Yeah, well, can´t help but love Shannon, even though I really, really need to give him a reason for keeping Taylor from saving Wash because if I don´t, I´ll start hating him at some point… Yeah, Taylor, can´t help but adore him even though he´s a bit- eccentric… So here´s the next part.

**Madi92:** Lol, please tell me if whatever you think occurs or not occurs because I`m really curious and it would be great if you´d be right since that would mean I managed to get some direction into my story ;)

Yeah, well, I suppose I put a lot of my own thoughts when it comes to having children in her mind but you´re right, she lives in a world where it technically might be a great thing to have kids, she´s just terrified right now, she´ll come around later, promised- Lol, yeah, they would- though since every kids written so far has Wash´s hair and Taylor´s eyes ´my´ kid will be blonde and have Wash´s eyes but that´s for later- a lot later, plenty of other problems to work through for them first.

**metube:** Lol, that´s understandable- oh well, he´s not bad in every sense, he´s also very loyal and very loving and protective, the way he stands by his son is proof of that. No, I made up that Mira/Taylor part and I don´t actually had in mind that he tells her, just that she figures it out by herself from the conversation they had- ok, that´s confusing, I`m rambling, you´ll find out in whatever chapter I´ll deal with the aftermath of the whole Lucas/Taylor stabbing fiasco.

Yeah, the baby thing is growing on me, I think I´ll eventually end the story that way and it´ll definitely be a girl, a lovely (unless her mother´s temper comes through) blonde, dark eyed girl- but yeah, later- I actually sort of have a plan to do a sequel about what might have happened in season two, not really sure yet.

* * *

"Are you going to tell me?"

Taylor looked up from his plex pad.

"Tell you what, Wash?"

Alicia sat up from where she had been lying on the sofa, watching Taylor as he pretended to work.

"I think you know."

After a moment´s hesitation, Tayler put the plex down onto the table and held his arms out and when Wash moved over to him, he pulled her onto his lap.

"I saw Lucas´ calculations, he´s almost there, Wash, it might be a matter of days now."

Wash felt her breath catch as the impact of his words hit her.

"He´ll get more people through with the eleventh."

Taylor sighed heavily, his lips brushing against her temple before he pulled her closer to him and buried his face in her unbound hair.

"I´m afraid he will, I´ll do anything I can to stop him in time."

"Don´t do anything too risky, Nathaniel, we need you."

"I promise you I´ll be careful, I still want to be here with you when this is all over. I´ll go out to the portal with Shannon tomorrow, post some people there, just in case, we need to be prepared."

"Let me go."

"Absolutely not, you´re going to stay here."

For a moment Wash considered protesting but decided that it wouldn´t do her any good, he was determined to keep her safe, just like she was determined to do the same for him and unfortunately for her, he was higher up in the command chain and therefore would get his way.

"We need to find out who the spy is, it would be really unfortunate if she´d tell Mira about our preparations."

"You´re right, I told Shannon to get a move on, you´re going to tighten security, double patrols, make sure there aren´t weak spots in the fence, we should be back around noon."

_"Command, you copy."_

_"Copy, Sir."_

_"We´re ten minutes out, meet you by the gate."_

_"Meet you there, Command out."_

_Wash hurried down the steps and alerted the towers, the rhino was already visible, quickly making it´s way towards the colony._

_Guzman stepped up next to Alicia, leaning over to whisper into her ear._

_"Stop looking so eager, Wash, might be a give away."_

_"Shut up, Guz."_

_He chuckled, shaking his head but Wash wasn´t paying attention to him anymore, the rhino had just stopped and she was hurrying towards the driver´s side._

_Taylor got out and Wash automatically checked him over for injuries, feeling relieved when she came up empty._

_"Any problems, Sir?"_

_"Not at all, Lieutenant, looks perfectly normal out there."_

_"That a good or a bad thing?"_

_"Remains to be seen- come on, let´s take a break, Shannon´s continuing with his interviews now."_

_Feeling puzzled, Wash followed her CO towards the barracks, it wasn´t like Taylor to take a lunch break, usually he got something from the market and ate up at his office and the fact that he was letting Shannon use the office for his investigation and didn´t insist on being present for it was only adding to her uneasiness._

_Taylor walked right past the entrance to the mess hall and towards the officer´s houses instead, unlocked Wash´s front door and held it open for her before following her inside._

_"You´re worrying me, why are we here?"_

_She demanded, watching as he opened her refrigerator and began looking for food._

_"Give me a moment, Wash, this isn´t going to be an easy conversation."_

_He straightened up, observing her for a moment, then shook his head._

_"Damn it to hell- pour us a drink, I´m gonna need it."_

_She did as she was told, handing him the tumbler, then watched in alarm as he threw it back and held the glass out for a refill._

_"Nathaniel-"_

_"I´ll be going out with Shannon to pick up the pilgrimage this time, you´re going to stay here."_

_She just stared at him for a moment, incredulously, then put her glass down onto the counter, preparing herself for the fight they undoubtedly were about to have._

_"No way, it´s my job to go out to the portal."_

_"You are staying behind, Lieutenant, that´s my last word."_

_Taylor´s voice was cold, his face wearing the closed expression that told her that she had already lost their argument and yet she was determined to push, staying behind while he went out there, not knowing what would happen out at the portal would be unbearable._

_"Then let me go with you, we´re no good apart, you know what happened the last time-"_

_"Stop right there, I´m not going to argue with you about this, you are my second in command and you are going to do your job and stand in for me while I´m gone."_

_"Nathaniel" Wash whispered, "please, don´t do this, I can´t let you go out there alone."_

_His expression softened but he kept the distance between them and Wash bit her lip, she didn´t want to cry in front of him, she was stronger than that._

_"You won´t change your mind, will you."_

_Her voice betrayed her emotions, she was sounding defeated and she didn't like the fact that he could reduce her to this so easily but then what could she do when it hurt so damn much._

_"I can´t- if anything happened to you, I´d never forgive myself."_

_His open admittance caught her off guard and she had to turn away from him, she couldn´t bear seeing him so vulnerable and knowing that she was responsible for it, that once again he was going to put himself on the line to protect her._

_His arms closed around her moments later, his lips brushing against her neck and she took a shuddering breath, tears threatening to fall at any moment as she let the comforting warmth of his body wrap around her._

_"Whatever happens, I can bear it as long as you are safe."_

_Wash turned around in his arms and the look in his eyes broke her heart, there was so much sadness, so much love and protectiveness, so much need and she couldn´t hold his gaze and instead hid her face against his neck, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pulled herself closer to him._

_"What good would that be if I lost you?"_

_"You won´t loose me, Alicia, there´s nothing that can keep me from your side, I´ll always come back to you, I promise."_

_This wasn´t them at all, it was far too tender, too emotional, promising things they knew they couldn´t control and that they were in a situation where they both would act on fear and apprehension rather than on courage and strength scared Wash more than anything that might be happening in the near future._

"You think you could fit in there?"

Guzman sounded doubtful and Wash threw him a glance before climbing down into the drainage ditch and brushing a few plants aside, cursing under hear breath when some thorns dug into her skin.

"You´re ok down there?"

Guzman sounded amused and Wash turned her head, glaring at him.

"You better hope we don't find another one of those."

She held out her hand and her comrade pulled her back up next to him, looking suitable apologetic.

"So what do you think?"

"It´s possible to get outside that way, I´ll tell Shannon about it- I need more men, Taylor left half my unit out at the portal."

"That´s not a problem, my unit is building houses for the eleventh, it´s not a pressing matter, I´ll get have them report to you in an hour."

"Thanks, that´ll work."

They made their way back to the gate without finding anymore weak spots in the perimeter where they parted, Guzman walking towards the new housing unit to talk to his soldiers, Wash climbing the steps to command.

The commander was pacing his office, looking tense but his face lightened up at the sight of Wash.

"Lieutenant- how is the fence?"

"I found one spot that might be a way out, a drainage ditch, Guz is sending men over here now, I´ll post a few there until I´ve talked to Shannon."

"Let´s hope it helps, I want whoever it is cut off from Mira as soon as possible."

"How are the interviews going?"

"So far Shannon came up empty."

They were both avoiding mentioning their former conversation, Wash was still determined to make him change his mind and she knew that he was still convinced he was acting for the best and it certainly would come up again before he left but for now they would both concentrate on the matter at hand.

_After installing the security camera Jim Shannon had asked her for, Wash instructed the members of her unit still at Terra Nova to double the west perimeter patrol, then walked back towards command, more than ready to finally go home after her twenty four hour shift._

_The commander was seated at his desk, looking intently on a plex pad and only looked up when Wash rounded the desk and leaned against it, arms crossed as she waited for him to acknowledge her._

_"Hey, Wash- finished with patrol?"_

_"Yes, Sir- what are you looking at?"_

_"List of suspects- I realized something. Did you know that Skye´s on that list?"_

_Wash shook her head._

_"Well, me neither and when I read her name, I actually felt insulted for a moment, then I realized I trust the girl because I like her, I´m biased."_

_Taylor shook his head, apparently amused at him himself and put the plex down onto the table before adding "I shouldn´t be biased, I should consider every option and draw conclusions without taking in account wether or not I like someone or not."_

_Wash shrugged._

_"That´s your only weakness, you believe in people too much, you don´t see when it´s time to regard them neutrally, Shannon´s the same, by the way."_

_"How´s that?"_

_"I´m not on the list, I´ve been in the infirmary that day."_

_Taylor shook his head, getting up and reaching around Wash to release her hair from it´s knot, then smoothed the long locks out on her shoulders._

_"Not funny, Wash, I believe I´ve accused you of treachery only a few month ago."_

_"You were´t in your right state of mind, you can´t still be blaming yourself for that."_

_Taylor didn´t look convinced but seemed to decide not to argue further, instead he took the plex from the table and glanced at his watch._

_"It´s almost midnight, you´ve bee working round the clock, you should go to bed."_

_"What about you?"_

_"I think I´ll look through some of Shannon´s interviews-"_

_"No."_

_He looked at her, eyebrows raised but Wash wasn´t about to give up so quickly._

_"Look, I know you don´t want to talk about the trip to the portal but it´s only a few more nights and I don´t want to spend them apart from you, if I promise not to mention it, will you come home with me?"_

_He regarded her silently for a moment, then nodded, leaning over to dim the lights._

_"Go ahead, I´ll be there in a few- Wash?"_

_She turned around, already at the door._

_"Yes?"_

_"We can talk about it if you want to but it won´t make me change my mind, I´ll be going and you´re staying here, if you can´t accept it, it might be better if_

_I continued working, I don´t want to fight."_

_Him staying there was the last thing Alicia wanted and if it meant that she would have to avoid the topic, she would._

_"Just come home, Nathaniel."_

The next day was spent patrolling the perimeter and screening footage from the newly installed security cams and by nightfall Wash finally found what she had been looking for and other than she had expected, it wasn´t very satisfying.

Of all the people who could have fed information to Mira it had to be Skye, the one person beside herself Nathaniel had any real affection for inside the colony, how was that fair?

What had the girl been thinking, what had they done to her to repay the commander´s kindness in such a way?

Jim Shannon chose that moment to enter the office and Wash showed him the footage, then announced that she would notify Taylor but Shannon stopped her, saying that he had to double check something first.

Frowning, Wash turned off the screen and decided that she might as well do evening patrol herself, she wasn´t exactly looking forward to telling her CO about the identity of their spy and if Shannon was so involved, he could as well do it for her.

"Washington to Reynolds."

"Copy, Ma´am."

"Meet me by the gate ASAP, you´re doing patrol with me."

The young man was already waiting for her and Wash noticed that he looked just as tired and stressed out as everybody else on the security detail.

"You look like crap, Reynolds, when was the last time you slept?"

"I´m fine- it´s Maddy, she´s- she´s worried."

"Of course she´s worried, we are all worried and having to stay behind is always worse than leaving, trust me."

Mark just looked at her for a moment, then asked "so which one is it going to be for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Waiting or leaving, somehow I can´t see the commander letting you go this time."

"You´ve given this a lot of thought."

"Not more than usual, he loves you and the colony will be the safest place if we were to come under attack."

Wash nodded, not at all surprised that Mark was taking Taylor´s side.

"And you agree with him."

"With wanting to keep you safe? Yeah, I agree, I want to keep you safe, too."

She smiled warmly at him, wishing she could protect him and the rest of her unit from what was about to come but they all were soldiers, they had signed up for this, had know the risks.

_When Wash entered her CO´s house she found him already in bed, sitting up against the headboard and staring gloomily agains the wall._

_Wash undressed quickly and snuggled up against his side, her head tugged beneath his chin and she felt relieved when his arms wrapped around her, she hadn´t been sure if he would allow himself to accept the comfort she was offering him._

_"I´m sorry" she whispered, her fingertips tracing over his collarbone and down his arm, finally lacing her fingers with his._

_"Me, too- I really can´t believe this, what on earth possessed her to do this, I thought she saw me as some sort of substitute father- you are right not wanting to have children with me, I´m the worst parent imaginable."_

_Wash couldn´t help but roll her eyes, even though he couldn´t see it._

_She straightened up and straddled his lap, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders._

_"You aren´t a bad parent and I never said you were- stop blaming yourself, we´ll find out why she did it, there must be a reason, she´s not a bad kid."_

_"And you tell me I have too much faith in people."_

_He sounded amused now, his hands coming to rest on her hips as he pulled her closer against him and Wash chuckled when his lips brushed against her throat._

_"This conversation is over, isn´t it?"_

_"Not at all, I can talk and kiss you at the same time."_

_His breath against her skin made her shiver and she let her head fall back, giving him better access._

_"So what are you going to do about it?"_

_She asked, congratulating herself for being focussed enough to form a correct sentence._

_"I´ll set a trap for her, feed her some information, see if she takes the bait."_

_"Sounds like a plan."_

_"Yeah and I didn´t even have to ask you to come up with it" he joked and before Wash could reply he had covered her lips his his and Wash forgot what she had been about to say in favor of kissing him back passionately._

_Much Wash was lying in Nathaniel´s arms, still searching for anything to say that would console him, he was lying on his back, his arms around her but she knew he wasn´t sleeping but staring into the darkness, still thinking about Skye._

_"Talk to me" she said simply without moving from her position._

_"Just wondering how to do this, I´ll tell her that we´re getting a supply convoy out, see if Mira turns up but I can´t think of a suitable way to arrange a relaxed conversation."_

_"That´s easy, you invite her up to command for a game of chess, tell Reynolds to update you on the convoy in the middle of it, she´ll probably excuse herself and you can watch her sneak outside on the cam."_

_"Planned out perfectly, just as usual, Lieutenant."_

_"If you say so, Sir."_

_He laughed quietly, pressing a quick kiss into her hair._

_"Go to sleep, Wash, busy day ahead tomorrow."_

They plan didn´t work the way they had hoped, Skye apparently hadn´t told Mira about the convoy and Taylor filled Wash in on Shannon´s theory over dinner at his house.

"He´s got a point" Wash mused, "we never actually did loose anything important, just things that could easily be replaced."

"That´s not an excuse, though, she´s still been giving the Sixers information, inside information and I want to know why."

"There aren´t many options, you either have to wait until you catch her or you have to bring her in and let Shannon question her, she´s not that tough, she´ll break."

"Probably- for now I´ll run with the first option, she´s been lying until now, we might be completely wrong about her and then she might lie to us again, stir us off track and we don´t have time for that."

He was looking gloomy, the day´s disappointment had left him in a bad mood and Wash couldn´t think of anything that might cheer him up right now, it might actually be best to leave him to his own devices for a while.

"I´ll go and do evening patrol."

"Shannon´s on that."

"Yeah, I know, I need to talk to him."

"What about?"

"Nothing special, just some minor issue about doubling patrols, I´ll see you later."

She brushed past him, ignoring his confusion, there was something that had been on her mind even since Nathaniel had informed her about his plans to go to the portal and leave her behind at the colony and she wanted the issue resolved as quickly as possible.

She waited for Jim Shannon by the gate, relieved when he turned up alone."

"Hey, Wash- what are you doing out here, I thought you were off duty for today."

"Technically I am, I want to talk to you."

They fell into step next to each other, walking along the perimeter.

"So what do you want to talk about then?"

Alicia bit her lip, this was going to be hard but it had to be done.

"The Commander is planning to pick up the pilgrimage himself this time, leaving me in charge of the colony."

Shannon nodded, obviously aware of those plans and agreeing with them.

"I will do anything I can think of to change his mind but in case I won´t succeed, which, admittedly, is likely, I need you to promise me something."

Jim´s face was serious now and he looked at her expectantly but didn´t interrupt her.

"I know you have it all planned out, go to the portal and if anyone comes through who shouldn´t, take them out one at a time, it sounds like a flawless plan but we´re dealing with Lucas here and there´s still a chance it might now work the way we expect it to.

If that´s the case and they attack the colony, I´ll do whatever I can to hold them off until you are back."

Shannon nodded, still looking uncharacteristically solemn.

"You want me to promise you to protect him?"

Wash couldn´t help but smile lightly, it sounded so cheesy, so chivalrous, so much like Shannon.

"That would be good, yeah- I´m not talking about throwing yourself in front of him if he´s shot at or pushing him out of the way, I know you´ll do that if you have to, there are other things he´s bound to do if things go wrong, he has a tendency to be brave and noble to a fault, he believes in sacrificing himself for others, no matter what is at stake, make sure he´ll stay safe."

"Wash-"

"The colony needs him, without him it´ll all go to hell, anyone else is replaceable, he is not."

She felt Jim´s hand on her arm and halted, turning to face the man next to her.

"I´m serious, Shannon, I´ve done whatever I could to protect him for eighteen years, if I can´t be there to do it now, you have to do it for me, whatever happens, don´t let him rush into a situation he might not get out of alive, promise me that."

"How can I, Wash, I wouldn´t stand back if it was Elisabeth or the kids who were in danger- or you or Reynolds or Taylor himself, how could I keep him from doing something he believes is worth the risk? Why are you even saying this, are you having some sort of premonition or anything?"

Wash looked back at him imploringly.

"Just promise me, Jim, please."

She held his gaze until he finally looked down, sighing heavily as he nodded.

"All right, I promise."

Feeling relieved, Wash briefly touched his arm, then continued walking and for the reminder of their patrol they continued on in silence, both lost in thought.

_Wash stopped the rhino and jumped out, yelling at her soldier´s to move quickly and secure the area._

_To her intense disappointment the camp was already deserted, the Sixers had left as soon as they had realized that Curran was gone and had taken Deborah Tate with him._

_Cursing under her breath, Wash pulled out her comm unit and contacted her CO._

_"They are gone, Sir."_

_"Damn- search the camp, bring back whatever they left, weapons, medicine, anything of value you can find."_

_"Will do, Sir."_

_"Good- Deborah is stable for now, it´s not looking too bad, the Doc thinks she can reproduce the meds."_

_"How´s Skye?"_

_There was silence on the other end and Wash decided to not press the matter, Syke seemed to be a rather bad subject at the moment._

_"I´ll be back as soon as I can, keep an eye on Curran, I don't want him assaulted straight away."_

_"Yes, Ma´am."_

_Taylor sounded amused and Wash rolled her eyes, even though he couldn´t see her._

_"Funny, Sir- I´ll see you when I get back."_

_"Be safe, Lieutenant."_

"Ma´am?"

Wash turned around slowly, she had been waiting for this moment and now it was here, she didn´t know how to react at all.

Curran looked older than when she had last seen him, gone was the reckless, charming boy who had made his comrades laugh and flirted outrageously with every girl looking his way, instead she found herself face to face with a man who had seen things he shouldn´t have and it had changed him, he now reminded Wash of herself and other soldiers she had fought with in the wars of the future.

He had killed for money, he had deserved his fate and yet seeing him like this, knowing he had endured what she had endured, was almost too much to bear, one more lost opportunity, one more future destroyed.

"Curran."

She didn´t smile but her voice was neutral, almost friendly, the boy had risked his own life to save Deborah Tate and if it was good enough for Taylor, it would be good enough for her, Curran didn´t need her to make things complicated for him, everyone else would jump at the opportunity, especially his former unit.

He looked embarrassed but didn´t avoid her gaze.

"I´d like to apologize to you, Ma´am- I put shame on my unit and on you and I´m sorry, I was greedy and stupid and I wish I could undo it."

He looked sincere and Wash felt herself relax, the boy would have to prove himself soon enough, perhaps it really was time to take a leaf out of Taylor´s book and give him a second chance.

"Apology accepted, Soldier, your unit won´t be so forgiving, prepare yourself for one hell of a hard time."

"Yes, Ma´am."

"I want to know if people are giving you any trouble, come and talk to me, don´t take it because you think you deserve it."

"I- yes, Ma´am."

He wouldn´t come to her, Wash was convinced he wouldn´t, he would stand up for himself, fight his own battles and it wouldn´t be few.

"Dismissed."

Curran saluted sharply, then walked away in direction of the barracks while Wash continued towards the infirmary and entered it, looking around for Elisabeth Shannon and finally spotted her at the other side of the room.

"Dr. Shannon, I have brought back a lot of medicine from the Sixer´s camp, you might want to go through it."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

The other woman smiled warmly and Alicia once again wondered how anyone could possess such a gentle and forgiving nature, Elisabeth Shannon had obviously forgiven her for playing a part in Jim´s arrest without questioning her any further.

Wash excused herself and left the infirmary again, then decided that she would talk to Nathaniel after their shift, right now she needed to oversee the unloading of the rovers, they had brought back plenty of useful items from raiding the camp and she wanted it all stored away before nightfall.

Outside she noticed Syke who was sitting on a bench near the market place, looking as though all the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

"Hey."

Wash sat down next to the girl who smiled sadly up at her, tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Is anything wrong with your mother?"

Skye shook her head.

"No, she´s fine, Dr. Shannon says she can reproduce the medicine synthetically."

"That´s good then, so why are you looking so upset?"

"It´s the Commander, he´s not talking to me anymore and-"

The girl bit her lip and Wash put a comforting hand on the young woman´s shoulder.

"Give him some time, he´ll come around, you´ll see."

"I hope so, I didn´t want to disappoint him, I´m so sorry."

The girl was crying now and Wash felt compelled to comfort her but she didn´t really know how, she was certain that Nathaniel would in time act normal towards Skye again, he was still hoping that Lucas would see the error of his ways, if he was faithful enough for that, it would be enough for Skye, too.

"Just be patient, all right? I have to go, speak to my team- if you want to talk, you know where to find me."

The girl nodded gratefully.

"Thank you."

"You´re welcome."

Wash left the girl and finally made her way back to the gate, smiling when she found that Taylor had taken it upon himself to oversee the unloading process and there wasn´t anything left to do for her.

She stepped up next to her CO who was turning a gun over in his hand.

"Found something to play with?"

He looked up, amused.

"I suppose I have, nice weapon, are there more?"

"Yeah, plenty- they must have been in a real hurry, they hardly took anything with them. It´s a shame they are on the wrong side, actually, they seem to have a few talented carpenters."

"According to Mira it´s not been that comfortable, where were you?"

"In the infirmary- and then I talked to Syke, she´s upset."

Taylor´s expression hardened.

"I hope so, she put the whole colony in danger, thanks to her, Lucas is going to finish within days now."

"Don´t be so hard on her, she only wanted to protect her mother."

"I know that, Wash and I´ll see it that way in time, right now I want to slap her every time I see her."

He looked tense and Alicia decided to drop the subject, there would come a time when Skye would get her chance to prove her loyalty to the colony and regain Taylor´s trust, everyone within Terra Nova would have to make a choice rather sooner than later.


	15. Chapter 15

_The following chapter contains spoilers for the season finale and like always, I don´t own own anything, if I did- well, let´s not go there right now…_

**metube:** Like always, thank you so much for being such a faithful reader and for reviewing each and every chapter, it´s my greatest motivation to go on 3

I´ll see if I can find a way to include Curran again, he´s an interesting character and it would be an idea to see how he manages to get along with everyone later on.

I don´t know about a second season, I have some ideas but it´d be a large project and I´m not sure I`ll actually pull it off since I won´t have anything to go on- I´m working on a story about the Sixers, how they arrived and how they left TN again, through Wash´s eyes, I might start posting that next, once this one is done.

Dear **´guest´**, here´s the next part, thanks for inquiring :)

* * *

They had been sitting in silence for hours, Taylor motionless, Wash feeling helpless, useless and finally she couldn´t take it anymore and got up from the sofa, making her way to the door and wrenching it open, the cool night air making her shiver.

She doubted he had even noticed her departure, he seemed miles and miles away and she had no idea how to reach him, perhaps giving him some space would be good for them both.

The lieutenant took her radio out of her pocked at activated it, feeling relieved when Jim Shannon answered instantly.

"Hey, Wash- anything I can help you with?"

"You could meet me at Boylan´s for a drink."

"Sure, see you in five."

He was already waiting for her when she arrived at the bar, obviously he hadn´t been at home when she had called him.

"Had to get away?"

He asked, sounding sympathetic and she nodded, leading the way down the steps.

"He hasn´t said a word since I came home, I don´t think he´ll even notice I´m gone."

"Elisabeth is still at the infirmary, Maddy´s playing cards with Reynolds and Zoe, they´re letting Zoe win."

He smiled lightly, then added "I don´t think they´ll miss me."

Josh waved at them from the bar and they walked over to him and ordered a bottle of Bourbon and two glasses before sitting down at table in a quieter part of the room.

Wash threw back her first shot and instantly refilled the glass, looking up when Jim´s hand found her´s.

"He hasn´t talked on the way back, either, don´t beat yourself up, it´s not your fault."

"It is, in a way."

Wash swirled the amber liquid around in her glass, then added "Lucas thinks his father was in love with me back in thirty eight already."

Shannon nodded thoughtfully.

"Was he?"

"Straight to the point, like always- I´ve never thought about it until a few months ago, Taylor says he was, fact is that he could have saved both Lucas and Ayani if he hadn´t stayed with me instead."

"I bet that makes you Lucas´ best buddy."

Shannon sounded about as amused as Wash felt but she had to smile all the same, it was so utterly ridiculous, sitting here, getting drunk on purpose with a man she had only known for a few months to avoid Nathaniel but somehow it was what she needed right now.

"Just about, I´m high up on his priority list of people he´d like to kill."

"Here´s to being popular" Jim joked, making Wash chuckle darkly as she lifted her glass in a mock salute.

"Cheers."

They refilled their glasses again and even though Wash wasn´t feeling anywhere close to drunk yet, she was beginning to feel more relaxed.

"So how is going with your family, they must be worried, too."

"Elisabeth is coming to the portal with us-" Jim interrupted himself when he noticed the scowl on Wash´s face and put his hand on her´s, squeezing lightly.

"I´m sorry."

"Not your fault- or her´s- so you´re leaving the kids here?"

"I trust Josh to take care of his sisters- and then you´ll be here, that´s about as safe as they can get."

"Despite of what you might believe, I´m not a very good babysitter."

Jim chuckled.

"Yeah, I can see that, you´d be downright scary as a babysitter, you´d make them stand at attention and command them to tidy up their room and eat their dinner in the same tone you use with your soldiers."

"Might be effective- I don't really mind kids, Zoe´s cute and so is Leah and I used to spend a lot of time around Tasha Guzman when she was little and we were at base, I simply can´t bring myself to treat them as anything but small adults."

"I could never picture myself with kids, either but then Josh came along and then Maddy and it was fascinating, watching them grow up, wouldn´t have missed it for the world."

"Being away from them must have been hard" Wash mused and Jim nodded.

"Hardest time of my life, especially because of Zoe, she was so little, I wasn´t sure she´d even remember me and then all the trouble with Josh, he still blames me for leaving him alone when he needed me."

Wash looked over to the young man at the bar, currently serving some of Guzman´s men.

"He´s going to be fine, Shannon, he´s a good kid, takes responsibility for his actions, works hard- you should be proud of him."

Jim smiled at her, nodding gratefully.

"Thanks, Wash, I actually am- I´m worried about them, though, if I didn´t know that you´ll be here- if anything happened to them, I could never forgive myself."

"You can´t think like that, not before going out on a mission."

She poured herself another drink, then leaned back in her seat and looked back at Jim.

"You did what you thought was best for them, bringing them here, you know as well as I that they wouldn´t have had a future in forty eight."

Jim shrugged.

"You´re right, I suppose, it´s hard to decide what´s best for them, you know- sometimes it´s all too much."

"You can´t always be right, all you can do is follow your instincts."

Jim chuckled, the melancholy fading from his expression.

"For someone who claims not to want any kids you seem to have given that a lot of thought."

Wash lifted her glass in mock solute before throwing the contents back once more.

"I suppose I listened to Nathaniel a lot."

"What was it like? After Lucas?"

Wash shrugged, trying to find the right words, she didn't like to talk about Lucas but she supposed she owed Jim Shannon a few answers to his questions, after all he would leave his children behind in the morning to fight for them, for the colony.

"It was hard. The night it happened, I was at an outpost, Taylor called me, telling me that something horrible had happened and that he had thrown Lucas out of the colony, the five hours it took me to get back here were some of the longest of my life, I had no idea what I would find.

He was waiting for me by the gate, I´d never seen them like that before, so completely devastated, not even at Somalia.

You can´t imagine how much I wished I hadn´t left, especially when Boylan came in the next morning and started his little blackmailing."

Shannon glanced over at the bar where Tom Boylan was chatting to some soldiers.

"How come you let him get away with it?"

"There wasn´t much we could do, we had enough problems without trying to reason with him, too, it was just another betrayal, he had been with Taylor´s unit longer than I had, neither of us would have thought he´d turn on us."

"He´s still loyal to you, though, he helps you when you need him, doesn´t he."

"I like to think so, I can´t be sure, though, with Boylan you never know who´s side he´s on, apart from his own of course."

Wash glanced up at the entrance and spotted Nathaniel making his way down the steps, looking around and when he noticed them, walking towards them.

"We have company" she warned Shannon, shifting aside to make room for the Commander.

He sat down next to her, smiling briefly at Shannon before turning back to Wash.

"You´ve been here the whole time?"

"Yeah, I thought you could do with some space."

He nodded before reaching for her glass and refilling it.

"I´m sorry, I should start treating you better."

Jim´s comm sounded and he looked at it, then back at the couple.

"Liz just got home, she´s looking for me- I´ll see you tomorrow."

The unspoken meaning of his words hung in the air between them as the younger man made his way towards the exit.

"Let´s go home, Wash, I want to be alone with you."

_When she reached out to switch on the light, his hand captured her´s and Wash turned around, her eyes meeting his in the almost darkness of the room._

_He shook his head before pulling into him, his mouth covering her´s in a urgent kiss, his arms almost too tight around her waist but Alicia wouldn´t have welcomed him restraining himself right now, she needed to feel his passion for her, the intensity of his feelings, needed to give it back to him and she ran her hands up his arms and over his shoulders before wrapping her arms around his neck, moaning into his mouth when he lifted her up and brought her legs around his waist._

_Her back collided with the wall, the kiss deepening even more, adapting a desperate quality, both of them aware that this could be the last time they could be together like that for a long time, both of them scared that it might be the last time at all._

_Finally Taylor broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against Wash´s, their breath mingling and when he kissed her again, it was surprisingly soft._

_"I love you" he told her, one of his arms sliding around her back to support her as he broke away from the wall._

_She tightened her legs around his hips, head resting on his shoulder as he carried her into the bedroom, the mood between them shifting, urgency making way for a rarely displayed tenderness but tonight it might be just what they both needed._

_He lowered her down onto the bed, lying down next to her and reached out to brush her hair out of her face._

_"I love you, too."_

_She captured his hand in her´s and brought it to his lips, her lips caressing the skin on his wrist, making him moan quietly and she smiled before pulling him closer to her, enjoying the feeling of his weight pressing her into the mattress._

_"Take me with you" she whispered, her eyes pleading with him to give in but he shook his head._

_"I know you don´t like it but I´m not going to risk you out there, you will just have to accept it."_

_Tears threatening to spill at any moment, Wash closed her eyes, sobbing when Nathaniel´s lips brushed against her temple soothingly and when she began to cry she didn´t know how to stop again._

_Nathaniel just held her to him, face buried in her hair until she calmed down again and her frustration with him won over her desperation, her body arching up against his was his clue to start kissing her again, hands tugging at clothes impatiently, needing to feel skin instead._

_Alicia wrapped pressed her body up against Taylor, impatiently urging him on, she her hands running up his arms, nails digging into the rippling muscles when he pushed himself inside of her._

_At times like this she still couldn´t quite believe that he would love her as much as she loved him, that he finally, after years of waiting and longing, was her´s._

_"What are you thinking about?"_

_He whispered, setting an easy pace, intended to building her up slowly, prolonging their pleasure._

_"How incredible it is that you are here with me."_

_He smiled, kissing her lips before drawing back slightly._

_"What´s incredible is that you are here with me, Wash, you´re an incredibly beautiful, desirable young woman, I´m just an old, cynical man with a lot of baggage."_

_She laughed, the mood suddenly easy again and teasingly wrapped one of her legs around his waist, drawing him closer to her._

_"Cynical, yes but old?"_

_"Not too old" he joked back, picking up the pace, making her gasp._

_"No, most certainly not."_

_Her head fell back into the pillow as she arched her back, giving herself up to the sensations he was evoking in her body._

_Finally Wash was lying in Taylor´s arms, his fingertips absently brushing over her upper arm, his warmth lulling her to sleep._

_"Goodnight, Wash."_

_He breathed against her neck and she reached for his hand, lacing her fingers through his._

_"Goodnight, Nathaniel."_

The moment he turned away from her, Wash had to remind herself that they were out in public and that every eye was on them to keep herself from throwing herself at his feet and begging him to change his mind one last time, she had be strong now, he was leaving her in charge and she would do whatever she could to not disappoint him.

As the rovers moved out, Nathaniel turned around one last time, his eyes finding Alicia´s before he climbed inside the vehicle and Wash nodded at the guards on tower one to lower the gate before making her way over to the garages to speak to the soldiers on duty there.

"Put every vehicle available just inside the gate, I want to be prepared to move out quickly if the Commander needs reinforcements" she ordered, then made her way up to command.

She anxiously waited for the Commander to check in with her and felt relieved when her comm finally came to life.

"Washington copying."

"Hey, Wash- we´re at the portal now, nothing´s happening yet, I´ll keep you posted."

"All right, Sir."

It was almost fifteen minutes later and Wash was getting nervous when she heard Taylor´s voice again.

"Portal´s active."

The next minutes were pure torture to Wash as she was forced to listened as Taylor hadn´t had time to turn off his radio, she had rarely felt so helpless and when she finally heard Nathaniel´s voice, she had to hold on to his desk to keep herself upright.

"Are you all right?"

Her voice didn´t resemble it´s usual tone, it was far too panicky, needy but right then, Wash didn´t mind that he could hear how worried she was about him.

"I´m fine- the soldier´s are, too, we can´t get back for the civilians, though, Wash, look out, I don´t like this, Lucas probably has something-"

She didn´t hear anything else for at that moment shots began ringing out outside and she reached for her gun and powered it up as quickly as possible.

"Wash?"

"I have to go, something´s wrong, try and get back here."

She switched the comm off and tossed it into her pocket when the door was thrown open and two of Guzman´s soldier´s tore inside.

"Lieutenant, we´re being attacked, they opened a portal right next to the gate."

"What´s the status?"

"They shot the guards off the towers and are trying to get through the gate."

Wash motioned for the men to follow her as she stepped outside and hurried down the steps, shouting at her soldiers to stand firm and return their enemy´s fire.

Their situation become more hopeless as the portal spat out man after man, the sheer number making it seem impossible that they would be able to hold their ground.

Wash noticed Mira and her Sixers joining them, the woman motioning for her people to spread out, not making themselves targets.

Guzman joined Wash where she was standing behind a Rhino, sniping off enemy soldiers.

"It´s looking bad, Wash, we´re outnumbered one to five and we have twelve dead already, Taylor probably won´t make it back on time."

"Damn" Wash swore, aiming at and killing yet another soldier outside the fence.

"This can´t be happening, how can we have been so stupid."

"Don´t blame yourself, Wash, we couldn´t have known that it would be so easy to open another portal."

The fire stopped at that precise moment and Wash straightened up to see what this was about, then wipped around and pushed Guzman to the ground, following him as the first grenade explodes within the colony´s perimeter.

She was up again at an instant, yelling for her soldier´s to get down as the second grenade exploded, before pulling her comm unit out of her pocket and handing it to Guz who was looking dazed.

The smell of burning wood hung in the air, people were screaming and Wash felt faint as memories of similar situations in various war zones began rushing through her mind.

"Call Taylor, tell him I have to surrender."

She got up and threw her rifle over the hood of the Rhino, then rounded the vehicle, holding her empty hands out.

Mira was standing at the gate and now held up her hand, her gaze on Wash.

"Are you giving up, Washington?"

"Yes, I´m surrendering, hold your fire."

She motioned towards one of the rovers and two of her men walked over to her, looking defeated but wordlessly climbed the tower to raise the gate.

Wash could feel the glee radiating off Mira as the Sixer cuffed the Lieutenant´s hands behind her back and turned her around to face the command center.

"Tell your men to put their weapons down and come out from behind the vehicles, after we´ve searched the houses they can go back to the barracks, if they stay quiet, nothing will happen to them, the Phoenix Group and we are taking over from here."

Alicia did as she was told, exchanging a quick glance with Guzman as he came out from behind the Rhino and he nodded, he had managed to tell Taylor what was happening, meaning that the Commander would stay away until he could work out a plan to retake Terra Nova.

"What´s going to happen to the civilians?"

Wash asked, trying to keep her temper under control, provoking Mira would only make things worse.

"Nothing will happen, Washington, they can go on with their everyday lives, no one is leaving the colony."

"You´re holding them hostage?"

Mira shrugged.

"I don´t like killing people if it isn´t necessary, they´re not that important, we have you, that´s enough."

Wash watched as her soldiers handed over their weapons while the foreign army invaded the housing units, searching for weapons.

Carter walked up to them, for once he wasn´t looking smug but rather pale and he ignored Wash and addressed Mira.

"26 dead."

Alicia briefly closed her eyes, this couldn´t be happening, what had they done to deserve this?

"Take some of our man and bury them outside."

Carter nodded and walked away again while Mira stirred Wash off towards the command center.

"I want you to hand over everything I need to operate the colony, do it quickly before Lucas gets here, you don´t want to deal with him instead."

"What´s going to happen to Guzman and me?"

"Guzman can go home like everyone else, you´ll stay outside, I want people being able to see you."

Wash gritted her teeth, of course, they wanted her on display to intimidate people.

In addition what good would it do them to lock her into the brig, if anything it might encourage Taylor to attack, knowing that she was safe within the underground cell, keeping her among the soldiers was the perfect life insurance for their forces.

_Mira unbound Wash´s hands after two heavily armed Sixers had joined them at the command center and Wash was sitting in the Commander´s desk chair, showing Mira a list with security codes when Lucas Taylor entered the room and strode over to the desk, his fingers instantly lacing through Wash´s ponytail and pulling her head back._

_"Fun" he remarked, his gaze burning into her´s, "my father´s little pet, all tame and cooperative."_

_Wash´s fingers were itching to close around his throat but she didn´t want to end up having her brain spilled all over Nathaniel´s desk and restrained herself._

_Lucas let go of her hair and slapped her around the face, laughing when her head flew to the side._

_Wash got up but Mira stepped between them, her hand reaching for Lucas´arm._

_"That´s enough, we need her, she´s the only thing that´ll keep your father from going crazy on us."_

_Lucas was looking murderous as he jerked his arm out of Mira´s grip._

_"We could just eviscerate her instead, see how crazy the old man gets then."_

_"If you touch her, you answer directly to me and that won't be pretty" Mira threatened, then she turned to Wash._

_"Get out of here- go change into civilian clothes and better be at Boylan´s when I check on you."_

_Wash met Guzman at the bottom of the stairs, he already was wearing a pair of jeans and a button down shirt, his face grim._

_"Tasha and Skye are ok, I´ve checked on them, Jim´s kids are, too."_

_"Good- you´d better not be seen with me too often, I don´t want you to get into trouble."_

_He looked uncomfortable but nodded and walked off towards the barracks while Wash made her way over to her housing unit and slipped inside, quickly changing into a pair black jeans and a fresh tank, letting her hair down and slipping into a pair of high heeled boots, all the while trying desperately not to think about Nathaniel and whether or not she would see him ever again._

_When she passed the gate on her way over to Boylan´s bar a couple of rovers were being unloaded in front of the command center and Wash realized that the Phoenix Group had been to the original portal and retrieved their civilians._

_She rushed over to Elisabeth Shannon who was looking dazed, staring at the lifeless body of her husband on a stretcher._

_"Dr. Shannon."_

_The older woman turned towards her._

_"Your children are fine, they are at home."_

_Elisabeth relaxed a little, her eyes sweeping over Wash._

_"Jim was standing to close to the portal when the bomb exploded, he´s stable for now but- are you all right?"_

_Wash shrugged._

_"I´m fine but I have twenty six dead on my account and we are being held hostage, I have no way to communicate with Taylor."_

_"Washington."_

_Mira´s voice rang out and Wash hastily continued on her way, she didn´t want to draw any unnecessary attention to the Shannon´s, Mira knew that Jim was important in Terra Nova´s command chain and if he survived, he would be questioned but the doctor didn´t have to get into the intruder´s focus._

_When she approached the bar, Boylan caught her eyes, beckoning her over to him._

_"I reserved a table for you, close to the exit, I´ll instruct everyone to keep an eye on you, if anyone gets too personal, someone will help you."_

_"Don´t risk too much for me, Boylan, it´s not worth it, I need a drink."_

_Looking worried Boylan poured her a glass of Bourbon and she felt his eyes on her back as she walked over to her table._

_She ignored the Phoenix Soldiers´ catcalls and slipped into the booth close to the door, settling in for a long and unpleasant evening full of regrets._

After the third evening spend in the same fashion, Wash got up around midday, not bothering with brushing her hair and slipping into her usual pair of dark jeans and another top.

She was feeling useless and depressed, Jim was still at the hospital and there weren´t any news from Nathaniel, the mood in the colony was hopeless and even though Wash knew that she had to do something, she simply couldn´t bring herself to do it, the combined loss of both command of the colony and the man she loved was slowly destroying her.

The bar was busy as usual and Wash was well into her fourth glass of Bourbon when Jim Shannon slipped into her booth.

His comforting words were balm to her wounded spirit and in the end she found herself smiling at his unbroken enthusiasm and willing to join him in bringing their enemies down.

After three days of keeping quiet both Mira and Lucas were leaving her alone most of the time, giving her the opportunity to recruit people for their cause and soon they had organized a meeting at Malcolm´s lab.

Smuggling Shannon out of the colony proved to be easier than expected and when he came back, he had a communication device which finally made it possible to contact Taylor.

The hours Wash had to spend at Boylan´s that night were torture, Shannon had promised to get the radio set to her in time for her to use it before going to bed and she could hardly remember ever having felt this impatient.

Finally Boylan closed down and Wash made her way towards the exit when Josh Shannon walked past her, his hand brushing her´s and Wash´s fingers closed around the precious communication device.

She slipped into her house and activated the radio set, her heart pounding in her chest as she waited.

"Taylor."

"Nathaniel."

There was a moment of silence, then she heard his voice again, choked with emotion.

"Are you all right?"

"I´m fine, you?"

"All right- Wash, is there any chance for you to get out of there?"

"I couldn´t just leave, I already left them down once, I can´t do it again."

"You didn´t let them down, Alicia, you did what you could, you saved them."

"I got twenty six people killed."

"Stop talking that way, I don´t want to hear it anymore, you did what you had to do, no one can expect anything more. It´s killing me that I´ve left you there, I´m so sorry, Alicia."

He sounded broken, desperate and Wash´s heart ached, she so much wanted to comfort him but she didn´t know what to say.

"You couldn´t have known."

"I should have, he´s my son, Wash, I simply didn´t want to see what he was capable off and now you have to pay for it."

"You can´t think that way."

"I know that, Wash, I need you here, without you it all doesn´t make sense, you were right, leaving you behind was the worst error in judgement I ever mad."

"I love you."

He chuckled softly.

"Way to distract me, Wash- I love you, too, take care and lie low, I don´t want you doing anything heroic and get hurt."

"I´ll try my best."

"I don´t want you to try, Wash, I want you to promise me not to do anything rash."

He was sounding serious now and Alicia sighed.

"That an order, Sir?"

"If that´s what it takes to make you promise, then yes, it´s an order."

"You know I can´t promise you that, Nathaniel."

"Wash, please, I need to know you´ll be ok, stay away from Lucas and do what they ask of you, you´re too valuable to hurt you without a reason."

"I won´t do anything I don´t absolutely have to do, that good enough for you?"

"No, it isn´t, I don´t want you to do anything that might endanger you, I don´t care at what cost, the most important thing is getting you out of there alive."

"You´re not talking like an CO right now, you´re aware of that?"

"Damn well I´m not, I´m talking like a man out of his mind with worry for the woman he loves more than anything else in the world who can´t bring herself to reassure him."

"Fine" she whispered, "I promise."


	16. Chapter 16

_It´s shorter than usual but it was so emotionally draining to write it, especially since I had to rematch both episodes to get the timeline right, that I couldn´t go on but though I´d post it, anyway, since I know a few people are waiting for it._

_This part will contain spoilers for the season finale, as usual, I don´t own anything._

**metube:** I´m afraid she did- I needed her to lie to him, though because that´ll be an interesting problem to further explore later on… I actually made my Mum watch the finale with me and I cried so hard she got really worried… Anyway, you´ll just have to push through and hope for better times which will come- eventually.

Well, it might be fun but it´s also much, much more work and I´m not sure I´m going to have enough ideas and be creative enough but I´ll think about it, promise!

**Madi92:** Well, the eps are great, apart from the fact that Wash DIES (damn it, it always makes me feel sick to think about it- but well, since they won´t do a second season and we didn´t see a body or anything, in my universe she´s still alive and I`ll come up with a great adventure for her in the following parts where she gets to single handedly kill off the remaining Phoenix soldiers and get back to Taylor ;)

And I´ll take care of Lucas- for good…

* * *

The next night their meeting was interrupted by Skye Tate and Jim hurried after the girl, leaving Wash to arrange for people to get away safely before they would be discovered.

Wash advised Skye to contact Taylor, the girl was the only one who´d be able to get into the command center without raising suspicion since Lucas had taken a liking to her.

"Tell him to send someone to the tree line at the west perimeter, we have to get Shannon´s family out, at least the doc and the girls, they can use the drainage ditch."

The lieutenant hurried over to Boylan´s and arrived just in time to witness Jim and Josh being hurled outside and dragged off towards the command building and she was still looking after them when Lucas came out of the bar and walked up to her.

"Your little intrigue is up."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Wash replied coldly, her heart hammering in her chest, of course they had known that Lucas would find out about their little guerrilla tactic sooner or later but they had been hoping that they would have more time to come up with a plan for when it happened.

"Fine, in that case I´ll fill you in- your friend Shannon somehow managed to get hold of a communication device and a couple of trackers and he informed my father about our convoys, the routes they would take, how many escorts there would be and consequently we lost almost thirty man and more than half of our vehicles this week."

Wash kept her expression completely blank as Lucas stared at her and finally the young man nodded.

"Of course, you´re just as impenetrable as the old man- tell you what, Wash, if I find out that you had anything to do with this, no matter how small a part you played and knowing you, it wasn´t small at all, I´ll make you wish you really had died that day at Somalia."

Wash´s first instinct was to roll her eyes but then she remembered the promise she had given Nathaniel and thought better of it.

"In that case it´s a good thing that I kept out of it, isn´t it- I should be be downstairs, if you excuse me."

She brushed past him, then stopped dead when she felt Lucas´hand on her arm.

"I know that you were in on this, I can´t prove it yet but I will and then not even Mira can help you- I´ll make sure that you die like my mother died, slowly and painfully and I´ll enjoy every moment of it, bear that in mind."

He let go of her and walked away towards the command center and Wash remained standing in front of the steps for a moment, trying to compose herself, she had to find a way to get Jim Shannon and his son out of the brig and they all had to get out of Terra Nova as quickly as possible.

She climbed down the steps to the bar and had just gotten a glass of water with a few drops of Bourbon from Boylan when Weaver entered with a group of soldiers, loudly complaining about a rash on his arm he´d developed after having been OTG in the afternoon and announcing that he would go to the infirmary to have it checked out.

Wash strained her ears to listen to the details, a plan forming in her head and was still at the bar when Carter came in with some Sixers.

Boylan inquired after Josh and was told that the boy already had been sent home while Jim Shannon would stay at the brig until he had confessed all Lucas wanted to know.

Making up her mind, Wash slipped out of the bar and hurried over to the infirmary, Elisabeth was on duty and she needed her to go through with her plan.

The doctor looked alarmed at the sight of her but quickly ushered her into her office.

"Lieutenant- do you know anything about Jim and Josh?"

"Josh´s probably home by now, Jim´s still in the brig, we need to get him out of there."

The older woman looked shaken but pulled herself together again instantly and Wash continued.

"I can´t stay long, Lucas is looking for a reason to kill me, if he finds out that I was involved and he will, no one will be able to keep him from doing it.

You and the kids will be blamed for what Jim did by association, we need to get out of here, all of us and quick."

Elisabeth nodded, eyes wide with fear.

"Tell me what to do."

Wash hesitated for a moment, then asked "how good are you at lying to people?"

"I´m a doctor, I can do it- who am I going to lie to?"

"Weaver- he´ll be here soon, I saw him at Boylan´s, he was complaining about some sort of rash on his arm."

Elisabeth rolled her eyes."

"You´re right, he´s deadly afraid of anything he encounters, all the nurses are complaining about him wasting their time."

Wash nodded.

"Make someone give him an injection, then feed him some story about a parasite you´ve infected him with, promise him a cure if he gets your Shannon out of the brig."

"You think he´ll do it?"

"He will, trust me, he´ll do anything to save his own skin. Once he´s at your place you knock him out with another injection and meet me at the west perimeter near the drainage ditch, Jim knows where it is, you can hide between the containers there, I´ll contact Taylor now, he should be waiting already, Jim didn´t have the comm on him, it´s at the bar."

"How will we get out?"

Wash bit her lip, she hated to lie to her friends but she knew that if she told Elisabeth Shannon that it was unlikely that they all would make it out and that therefore she would have to stay behind to give the family the chance to get out, the other woman would protest vehemently and there wasn´t time for it.

"They set up a detection grid around the perimeter fence, Durwin told us we´d need a Phoenix access card to disable it, I´ll try and get one from one of the soldiers now."

"All right- be careful, Wash, you said it yourself, if they realize you´re helping us-"

"I´ll will be- I have to go now, good luck."

_Wash slipped back inside the bar, relieved when no one paid her much attention, the bar was packed and it took her some time to make it over to Tom Boylan._

_"I need the comm" she whispered, smiling at a Phoenix soldier who was checking her out openly, she would need someone just like him to get an excess card._

_"My office" Boylan told her and Wash nodded, then walked towards the stairs and started to climb them, anyone watching her would assume she was on her way to the bathrooms and it wasn´t possible to watch the steps leading up to or the office from the lower floor._

_She found the comm in Boylan´s toolkit and activated it, hoping that the frequency would still be working and at the same time dreading the conversation she was about to have with Taylor, she would have to lie to him and given the fact that it might be the last time she got the chance to talk to him at all, especially after Lucas´ latest threats, the mere thought was almost killing her._

_"Taylor."_

_"It´s me."_

_"I´m waiting fro you- be careful, Wash, if anything happens to you-"_

_"Nothing will happen" she told him firmly, she needed him to stay focussed and act quickly and all she could do was hope that he would get over her in time and be able to move on._

_"I´ll see you in a bit" she added, then switched the device off, she had to hold on to the desk for a moment, she had never felt so empty, so out of hope but she had to focus now, she owed it to Shannon to get his family out of the colony and she would._

_Back down at the bar she leaned against the counter next to the soldier she had seen looking at her earlier, feeling relieved when she realized he was too drunk to even get suspicious of her sudden interest in him and Wash endured his arm around her waist for a few minutes, pretending to listen to his drunken talk with interest before finally running a hand up his chest and pulling the access card out of his breast pocket._

_She motioned for Boylan to bring another drink and handed it to the soldier, then waited until he had slumped down on the bar, too drunk to remain upright anymore._

_"Back door" Boylan whispered to her, pulling her behind the bar and Wash crouched down, crawling towards the back exit, the door was open and she smiled up at her former comrade gratefully before sneaking outside and setting off for the west perimeter, looking around for a possible distraction should it be needed until she noticed the piled up explosives near the empty housing units that had been meant for the eleventh pilgrimage._

_Disabling the detection grid was easy and she found the Shannons between the containers and when she took in Jim´s bruised face and body, it was obvious that he wouldn´t be able to run fast enough, let alone carry Zoe._

_Resigning herself to the fact that she wouldn´t make it out and probably not survive the night, Wash felt a fresh surge of determination, she would fight to her last breath and she would make sure that those bastards wouldn´t get the chance to destroy everything Taylor and she had worked for._

_There was so much she wanted to tell Nathaniel but instead she asked Shannon to remind her CO about the craziest mission of her career and told him to take his family and go, ignoring his pleading, ignoring Maddy´s horrified expression and Elisabeth´s incredulous stare, there was no other way and told them to wait for her signal._

_The explosion destroyed most of the new buildings and it didn´t take more than a minute until Wash was struggling in the grip of two soldiers dragging her off towards the command center._


	17. Chapter 17

**metube:** Sure, totally stupid but well- hehe, yeah, true, everybody always comes back in SyFy, at least in some form or other ;) Anyway, here´s the next part, Wash doesn´t die of course, just kills a bunch of people, some of them personally ;)

**Guest:** Thank you very much :D

Here´s the next part, it´ll contain spoilers for the season finale, though most of it is set after the timeline of season one when Taylor is already back at Terra Nova and Wash, unfortunately, is not.

I don´t own anything etc., etc. …

* * *

No matter how many times she had been confronted with death in her career, had come close to it herself, Alica Washington didn´t want to die, she had still so much to live for, she had waited so long, fought so hard to finally be happy, how could it all be over before it had really started?

Those thoughts running through her head were responsible for the tears dwelling in her eyes when she was pushed down to the ground in front of Lucas Taylor.

Her CO´s son was looking down at her with barely controlled fury, his voice cold, menacing.

"You helped the Shannon´s escape- tell me which way they went and I might let you live."

Fighting the urge to laugh at his empty words Wash struggled to her feet, if she had to die, she would die like the soldier she had been, with her head held high, facing the enemy.

She remained silent and watched as Lucas´s patience ran out, having known him since he´d been a child she was aware of all the tell tale signs in his expression and body language.

He turned around and exchanged a glance with Weaver who was looking on with an uneasy expression, Wash knew what it was about, throwing grenades was one thing, looking someone in the eye who was about to be executed quite another.

She wasn´t surprised when Lucas turned around again, drawing his pistol and telling her that she had three seconds before he´d shoot, she had no dissolutions about the truth behind his announcement and all she wished for now was that Nathaniel had left straight away and wasn´t forced to watch his son killing her but then of course she knew him better than that.

She thought of the promise she had forced out of Shannon and prayed that he would manage to keep Taylor from doing something stupid like rushing in and trying to rescue her, she was surrounded by heavily armed soldiers and they would both die as a result.

Lucas was counting down and Wash couldn't stand the tension anymore, she needed this to be over with and her last thought was how strangely broken her voice sounded as she told Lucas that he had his father´s eyes and watched his finger pull the trigger.

_The first thing she became aware of when she came back to consciousness was someone´s presence right next to her, a hand on her arm, shaking her and she forced her eyes open as the memories came rushing back, yeas of training kicking in and overruling her confusion at being alive at all._

_"Welcome back, Lieutenant."_

_She blinked up at the man next to her while trying to comprehend why she wasn´t dead, the face was well familiar, Hooper, in charge of the Phoenix soldier´s military units._

_"Blanks?"_

_She whispered, lifting her hand to her head and carefully examined her forehead._

_Hooper nodded._

_"You don´t think we´d give a maniac like Lucas Taylor a loaded gun? You got lucky, though, dangerous distance even for a blank."_

_"Lucky? I doubt that."_

_Wash winced as she struggled to sit up, then heavily leaned against the wall, realizing at the same point that she was in the brig._

_"Where is Lucas?"_

_"Dead" Hooper informed her, reaching for the water jug and handing it to her._

_Wash almost dropped the jug as she stared at him._

_"What?"_

_Hooper shrugged._

_"From what I heard he got into a struggle with his father, got shot by that girl Lucas was hanging around, Skye, he got away but ran into Mira, wasn´t lucky that time around."_

_Wash drank some water, then put the jug down onto the floor as she realized that that was what Taylor had asked Mira to do for him, he had already been aware that his son would never willingly give up on his revenge and that the only way would be killing Lucas in the end and he had made sure to employ someone to do it for him._

_"Are you sure he´s dead?"_

_"Got the body in the infirmary."_

_Trying not to think about the state Taylor was most likely in right now, believing both his son and herself to be dead, Wash focussed on Hooper again._

_"Fine, so what do you want with me now?"_

_She wasn´t fool enough to think that they might just let her live after she had gotten so many of their soldiers killed._

_"I´m here to offer you a deal- Taylor and his men blew the portal, which means we´re stuck here in this dinosaur infested nightmare."_

_Wash waited for him to continued, trying not to let her satisfaction show, Taylor had not only heeded her advice, he´d also managed to get through with cutting them off._

_Hooper waited for her to react and when she didn´t, began talking again._

_"We have reason to believe that the portal you used to get here wasn't the first ever used by mankind, there are artifacts in the Badlands that prove there must have been other´s."_

_"You being serious?"_

_Wash couldn´t help but question him, despite herself, the information was too fantastic to not show any interest in it._

_"Dead serious, Lieutenant- thing is, with Lucas dead and the Sixers gone, we don't have anyone go guide us, especially since your CO killed all our scouts who´ve been out there."_

_"And what makes you think I would help you?"_

_Hooper smiled and Wash had to suppress a shudder._

_"If you refuse I give you to my men, after they are through with you, I´ll leave what´s left of your body for Taylor to find."_

_"Creative" Wash replied, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice._

_"I´m not aiming on being creative, just effective, I want to get out of here and you´re going to help me, I´ll guarantee you a quick and painless death once we´ve reached out destination."_

_"You expect me to believe that?"_

_"You don't have much of a choice, do you- there´s a change of clothes in the bathroom, make it quick, we´re leaving in an hour."_

_"I suppose no one knows I`m alive?"_

_Hooper shook his head while pulling Wash to her feet and pushing her in direction of the tiny bathroom._

_"Not bloody likely, I can do without having Taylor on my trail."_

Wash felt better after her shower and with clean clothes, she wasn´t too worried about the Phoenix Group right now, they needed her and the journey to the Badlands would take days in which she might get a chance to escape.

Hooper came back with two of his soldiers and marched her out of the backdoor where a Rhino was already waiting, they pushed her into the backseat, Hopper getting in next to her.

"Just realized there´s something else you can do for me, I have six heavily wounded and you used to be Taylor´s field medic, right?"

Wash leaned back into the seat as the Rhino began to roll.

"Touchy, didn´t think you´d have any kind of morals."

"They are my men, Lieutenant, I won´t leave them behind and unfortunately the medics I brought turned out to be butchers rather than healers."

There wasn´t anything else said between them as the convoy made their way into the jungle and turned north east.

They didn´t stop until the early morning hours and Hooper told Wash to tend to the wounded soldiers while the Phoenix Group began to erect some tents in a small clearing.

Wash found a small array of medical equipment, clearly taken from the infirmary, waiting for her, bandages and two scalpels and for a moment she felt tempted to pocket one and kill Hooper once she got back outside but she restrained herself, she had to try and get rid of as many members of the Phoenix Group as possible, not just their leader.

The six men turned out to be the only survivors of the convoys Taylor had taken out earlier that week and Wash had was glad they all were still unconscious while she worked but at the same time a plan was beginning to form in her head, a plan that was a little too fantastic for her own liking but she was getting desperate.

"You didn´t exactly need directions so far" she told Hopper as she stepped out of the tent and was escorted to her own.

"I will need them now, this is how far any of us has gotten, so you can start thinking about a campsite for tomorrow."

"Aren´t you worried I´ll lead you into a trap?"

Wash asked, relieved when Hooper laughed, clearly still not taking her seriously enough.

"I´d like to see you manage, you´re just one woman, Lieutenant and no matter how brilliant you might or might not be, we´re a large group of well trained men who are able to defend themselves against anything or anyone that might come at us."

He pushed her into the tent and closed the flap, leaving Wash alone in the dark with a tiny spark of hope glimmering inside of her.

So he wasn´t worried about her turning on them, was he, she´d make him think of that again.

_Wash took her time to change bandages the next morning, not bothering to extend more care than was strictly necessary on the wounded soldiers._

_If her plan worked the men would probably be dead before the day was over, anyway._

_Hooper really didn't seem to have an idea where they were going and Wash led the convoy on a lengthy detour, timing was essential for her plan to work and she needed them to arrive at their destined campsite just after nightfall._

_They finally came to a halt on a clearing and got out close to a steep cliff, the river could be heard clearly, flowing almost 600 feet below them._

_"Is there any water near by?"_

_Hooper asked, "or is there a way down?"_

_Wash shook her head._

_"The cliffs are too steep to get down but there´s a stream in the jungle, about three hundred yards south, I could-"_

_"Forget it, I´m not that stupid, you´re not going anywhere, except for the medical tent."_

_Wash did her best to look disappointed and walked off towards the newly erected medical, slipping inside and quickly glanced around._

_One of the soldiers had regained consciousness and was looking at her, his expression a mixture of hostility and triumph at seeing her in his own people´s power after she had tricked him at Boylan´s and put a tracker on him._

_He opened his mouth to say something but at that moment screams were heard from outside, then gunfire and screeching and the soldier´s eyes widened in fear._

_"What the hell-"_

_He fell silent when he felt a scalpel blade press against his neck._

_"Slashers" Wash told him conversationally, "they don't appreciate humans invading their territory, we lost twelve men in this clearing when we were out here the first time, just after we´d gotten through the portal, usually they hunt in small groups but we encountered almost two dozens here, only Taylor and I managed to get out, had to climb down 600 feet to the river in the dark."_

_The soldier gulped as the blade pressed harder, drawing blood._

_"Why are you telling me this?"_

_Wash shrugged._

_"No reason, just feeling talkative tonight."_

_With that she slid his throat, then continued on to the other´s, listening intently to the battle raging outside, other than the Phoenix soldiers she was aware how hard it was to get rid of the predators and by the sound of it, Hooper already had sent men off to get water just like Wash had hoped, dividing the group into two parts even easier to kill._

_Wash slid the back of the tent open with the scalpel and slid outside, hastily crossing the distance to the cliffs and crawling over the ridge, the gunfire had lessened already, apparently the Phoenix Group had been no match for a large group of Slashers and by now the animals had started to attack the vehicles._

_Alicia had half hoped that she might find a functional Rhino to get back to the colony but from what she could make out while carefully picking her way down the cliff wall in the darkness, the Slashers were all but shredding the vehicles to pieces._

_Wash lost track of time as she struggled down the rocky surface, it was easier than it had been at her first attempt, back then she had been desperate, having just lost a dozen soldiers and in doubt if the cliffs were manageable at all, this time she was flooded with both adrenalin and a grim satisfaction._

_After a while the screams ceased completely, being replaced with animals feeding, screeching as they fought for the best parts and Wash had to pause for a moment, nausea threatening to overwhelm her but she forced it down resolutely and began climbing again._

_Eventually she reached the bottom and looked up, taking in the star constellations above her to determine what time it was and found that it had taken her the better part of two hours to get down to the river._

_With the rhinos gone she needed another plan to get somewhere safe and she quickly decided that the safest choice would be to travel on the river and for that she´d have to find a large enough piece of driftwood to support her weight._

_It took Wash almost an hour to find the perfect piece of wood and by then her nerves were severely shaken, animals were screeching all around in the jungle and she couldn´t be absolutely certain that all her enemies had been killed in the Slasher attack, some might have survived and be looking for her right now._

_Swimming out to the middle of the river, Wash held onto the driftwood and pulled herself up and onto it, trying to judge the distance to the sea and how long it would take for her to get there, Outpost Six was only a few clicks from were the river joined the sea, close to Taylor´s favorite spot for fishing._

_Thinking of Nathaniel made Wash feel helpless again, she wanted to see him, tell him that she was all right, comfort him but there was no way she had any chance of survival if she tried to get back to the colony on foot, armed with nothing but a scalpel._

_Her best hope was that some means of transportation were still stored at the outpost or that the communication system might be working._


	18. Chapter 18

**metube:** Yeah, that´s about it… Sorry about that, I had several reasons for having her act that way, of course she´s really, really in no position to spare anyone who might come back and kiss her and everybody she cares for afterwards and then of course they have promised that they will kill her once they´ve reached the Badlands and that they might do worse things to her if she doesn´t cooperate, I simply couldn´t picture Wash- especially the way I´ve portrayed her in here´- going soft on them.

In addition I´d personally prefer a quick and painless death to being slashed open and eaten- still remember vividly what it looked like from Jurassic Park- gross…

I´m sorry it took so long for me to update, I was a bit at a loss with the next part.

**morningsunshines:** Thanks for the input, actually the whole story hasn´t quite worked out the way I wanted it to, seemed like I couldn´t really get a hang on the characters, I have a feeling it´s been improving during the last few parts- I´ll try and do better with the next long- term project.

* * *

When Wash finally crawled out of the water she had to fight the urge to simply collapse onto the grass, she was completely exhausted and the distance to Outpost Six seemed unmanageable but like usually she forced herself to get up and start walking, making her way along the shore.

The sun was still up, drying out her clothes as she walked and Wash realized how hungry she was, she hadn´t eaten anything since the previous afternoon and she was in no condition to hunt or search for fruit, she had to concentrate what little energy she had left to reach her destination.

Almost two hours later the Outpost became visible in the distance and Wash mobilized her remaining strength and walked faster, arriving at the doors of the building just as the sun began to set, the air was cooling and Wash shivered as she punched in the security code, almost crying in relief when the door opened and closed again securely behind her.

Unfortunately that was the only positive surprise that awaited her, the garage was empty and when she tried the communication system she found it had broken down completely and despite all efforts to repair the connection, nothing happened.

Deciding that the cables had probably been eaten once again, Wash resigned herself to the fact that she would have to hope someone would check on the Outpost sooner or later, until then she would have to live on energy bars that were stored in liberal amount in the supply closet or go fishing, some of Nathaniel´s equipment were stored in the garage.

After she had eaten a handful of energy bars, Wash took a shower, by now she was so tired and frustrated that she didn´t even mind that the water was cold, it was just one more thing to add to a long list of things that had gone astray that week, all she cared about anymore was sleep.

After she had toweled her hair dry as well as she could and braided it neatly, Wash crawled into one of the beds and finally allowed herself to relax.

_The following two weeks seemed endless, Wash couldn´t remember ever having been so bored and the constant worrying about Taylor and his state of mind wasn´t improving the situation._

She spend the time taking runs along the shore, never venturing far from the outpost´s fence for fear of predators, fishing, though her impatience never allowed for her to sit there longer than strictly necessary to catch something nutritious and trying to come up with a plan to get back to the colony without help but she always had to abandon those, with no weapons and no transportation she would simply have to wait and hope for the best.

_The morning of her seventeenth day of solitude dawned bright and cloudless and Wash decided to go down to the beach and catch something for lunch, bad whether had prevented her from venturing out for two days and she was sick of energy bars and longing for fresh food._

_The first things she noticed when she rounded the corner of the building was a rhino being parked near the fence and her heart leapt as she noticed Guzman standing at cliffs, looking out at the sea._

_For a moment Wash just stood there, rooted to the spot, then she began walking towards him, slowly, still not daring to believe that he was really there._

_Sensing the movement behind him, Guzman turned, his hand on his gun and Wash stopped, unable to move anymore as their eyes locked, his widening incredulously._

_He looked tired, his whole posture weary as though he hadn´t had a good night´s sleep in weeks and her feet began moving again on their own account, carrying her towards him and then she was wrapped into his arms so tightly she could hardly breathe._

_"Are you real?"_

_He whispered, his voice strangely broken and Wash hid her face against his neck, deeply inhaling the familiar scent._

_"I am- took you longer than I thought" she teased him and he pulled back slightly to look at her, his eyes sparkling as his fingertips gently brushed an errand strand of hair out of her face._

_"Damn dinos ate the cables again?"_

_She nodded._

_"Looks like it- I´ll never eat a protein bar again, by the way, they are disgusting."_

_Her friend chuckled._

_"Poor you- I´ve got some food with me, you can have it, I´ll be fine with a few energy bars."_

_Wash got serious again as they started walking back up to the building._

_"How bad is it, Guz?"_

_"Not too bad- repairs will take a few more weeks of course but there weren´t any more casualties, they just left- will you tell me how you got here?"_

_They briefly stopped by the rhino and Guzman got his backpack out, then followed Wash inside the outpost, the door closing behind them._

_Wash chuckled when Guz pulled a large sandwich out of the bag pack and handed it to her before looking around._

_"I have instant coffee, can we boil water somewhere?"_

_"You have coffee? Have I mentioned that I´m really glad to see you?"_

_Wash joked before taking a bite of the sandwich._

_"Several times, Lieutenant, now tell me what happened to you."_

_While she watched him make coffee, Wash told Guzman all about her trip with the Phoenix Group, up to the point where she had arrived at the outpost and been forced to wait for someone to find her._

_"We haven´t seen anything from them, Mira has neither, she´s been back to the colony a few times and told us all about the supposed portal in the Badlands, she asked us to go out there and explore it with her but-" his voice trailed off and Wash looked up._

_"Taylor?"_

_Guz ran his hand through his hair._

_"He´s not doing very well, Wash, loosing you- he took it bad, he´s thrown himself into work and doesn´t show interest in anything but getting the colony back up and running. I was planning to check on outpost seven and eight, too but now I´d rather take you back as quickly as possible, I don´t want to tell him over the comm line."_

_"The sooner we leave, the better, you can let me drive and relax."_

_Guzman chuckled._

_"While you are driving?"_

_Wash glared at him but he laughed only harder and pulled her back into his arms and after a moment of struggling she allowed him to hold her._

_"Good to have you back, Wash, I´ve missed you."_

_"What, being second in command didn´t agree with you?"_

_She teased, pulling out of his embrace to rinse the mugs and put them away, impatient to leave._

_"No, too much work, too little fun and Taylor didn´t appreciate my company half as much as your´s, I don´t seem to be his type."_

_They quickly inspected the damage done to the cables, then Wash climbed behind the rhino´s wheel while Guzman settled into the passenger seat and they started off towards the colony, the topic of the Phoenix Group coming up again._

_"If you haven´t seen anything of them they probably are all dead, it´ll be hard to find proof, though, it´s hardly worth the risk to go back into Slasher territory."_

_"If we take enough men we could risk it, anyway, we also should see if we can retrieve any equipment, destroying the portal was a good plan and the right thing to do but it´ll take time to find a way of teaching people how to repair technical instruments, let alone built energy supplies."_

_"You´ve got a point, I suppose- I´m not sure I want to go back, though, I´m still having nightmares from that place, the ones I´ve killed coming after me or me falling off the cliffs while climbing down."_

_Guzman shrugged._

_"Was probably kinder to kill them quickly, being eaten alive-" He shuddered._

_"At that moment it almost felt good, I was so wrought up, so full of hatred I just wanted to see them suffer, I haven´t felt that way since Somalia."_

_"I can´t blame you, by the time Taylor got back and I had had time to really examine all the damage they´d done I was ready to go after them, Taylor, too, wish we´d done it now."_

_He looked guilty and Wash briefly covered his hand with her´s before concentrating on driving again._

_"I´m glad you didn´t, at least no one else got killed because of me. You said Mira has been back and wants to work with you?"_

_"Yeah, now that the portal´s gone, she´s desperate to find another way to get back to the future."_

_"How´s Taylor feeling about her being around? After Lucas, I mean."_

_Guzman looked thoughtful._

_"He seems to be ok with it, we buried Lucas and Taylor has been out to Memorial Field every day but he´s spend much more time at your grave than at his son´s."_

_A shudder ran down Wash´s spine and her hands tightened around the steering wheel._

_"I have a grave?"_

_"We all wanted a place to go and feel close to you, remember you, even though we couldn´t find a body."_

_"So how many people turned up at my funeral?"_

_Wash asked, trying to sound as though the information didn´t concern her too much and even though she knew Guzman would see through it, he played along._

_"Wasn´t as though they had a choice, Taylor made them- no, seriously, people didn´t take your death well, Wash, you´ll have a hard time getting a moment to yourself once word is out that you´re alive."_

_Guz continued to fill Wash in on everything she had missed out on during the last weeks and he had just finished giving her a detailed report on how Jim Shannon had destroyed Hope Plaza when they passed the tree line and the colony appeared in the distance._

_"I´ll radio in" Guz said, "won´t mention you yet, Taylor might need a bit of preparation first."_

_Wash nodded while continuing to drive towards the colony, anticipation making her heart beat painfully hard in her chest._

_"Guzman to Terra Nova, come in."_

_"This is Terra Nova, copying."_

_Jim Shannon´s voice sounded over the line._

_"I´m five minutes out, where´s the commander?"_

_"I´m right here, Guz, why are you back so early?"_

_Wash had to bite her lip to keep silent when she heard Nathaniel´s voice, she wasn't quite sure if she had actually been aware how much she had missed him until now, hearing his voice made the desperate longing she had been experiencing ever since he had left ten times worse._

_"Had to change my plans, Sir, can you clear a path to the infirmary for me?"_

_"You´re hurt?"_

_"No, Sir."_

_There was a moment of silence and Wash could picture Nathaniel´s frown, her CO didn´t like being kept in the dark and Guz´s behavior was more than elusive._

_"Right, meet you at the infirmary, Taylor out."_

_A few minutes later, the gate was raised in front of them and Wash steered the rhino towards the infirmary, stopping right in front of the entrance that was blocked from view by a number of soldiers, the commander was already waiting with Jim Shannon, Taylor looked irritated, Shannon curious and Guzman got out first while Wash remained inside, hidden from view._

_"Shannon, can you get your wife? Tell her you need a private room."_

_Jim exchanged a glance with Taylor who nodded, apparently deciding to humor Guzman until he found out what all the secrecy was about._

_"Sir, this will come as a shock-"_

_"Stop stalling, Guz, talk to me."_

_Nathaniel growled, already rounding the rhino and Wash simply couldn´t wait any longer, she opened the door and slid out of the driver´s seat, coming to stand right before Taylor who stood frozen to the spot, staring at her._

_"To make a long story short, I ran into Wash, Sir."_

_Guzman stated dryly, looking amused at his superior´s loss of speech but Taylor ignored him._

_He took a step forward and reached out, taking Wash´s hand in his, fingers lacing together, then she was hurled into his arms and hugged tightly to his broad chest._

_Returning the embrace she could feel the eyes of her soldiers on them and she tried to pull away but Taylor wouldn´t let her, if anything his arms tightened around her back._

_"Give me a moment, Wash" he muttered into her ear, his warm breath making her shiver against him and then his lips found her´s, he kissed her deeply, intimately, the kind of kiss Wash would never haver expected to ever receive from him in public and a few weeks earlier she might have protested, reminded him that they had decided to keep their relationship private but after all they´d been through, such trivial concerns hardly mattered anymore._

_They were interrupted by the Shannon´s, Jim all but pulling Wash out of Taylor´s arms and spinning her around, laughing while Elisabeth gently patted the commander´s arm before telling her husband sternly to let go of Alicia so she could take her inside and examine her._

_Wash followed the doctor with the three men right behind her, neither of them seemed to be willing to let her out of their sight again anytime soon and for once she enjoyed the attention._

"You´re perfectly fine, Wash" Elisabeth smiled at her, then looked at the commander who was standing next to his lieutenant´s bed.

"Let her rest a little before you make her crawl around in the jungle somewhere, will you."

Taylor looked offended and Guzman and Jim grinned.

"My soldiers never crawl around in the jungle, Doc, they-"

He looked from the woman to the two men, then at Wash, rolling his eyes.

"I´m being mocked, Wash, what do you say to that."

Wash bit her lip, trying to keep her face straight.

"Outrageous, Sir- I´m hungry, can I go home?"

She turned towards Elisabeth who nodded, then glanced at her watch.

"If you don´t mind more company, why don´t you and the commander come by for dinner, Maddy will be furious we didn´t tell her right away you´re here, she´s been having a hard time getting over you dying for us and she promised to cook tonight."

"Sounds good to me- Nathaniel?"

Wash looked up at him, not wanting to overrule him but he smiled lightly, his fingers lacing through her´s.

"Whatever you want."

"We´ll be by at eight, then, I need a shower and fresh clothes."

Wash followed Taylor out of the infirmary and found Mark Reynolds waiting outside, accompanied by Riley.

"We heard you were back, Ma´am."

Mark looked almost painfully excited and Wash sighed, opening her arms.

"All right, Reynolds, get it over with."

He hugged her tightly, whispering to her how glad he was that she was ok, then let go of her and Wash turned to the other woman.

"Riley, how have things been around here?"

"We did our best to keep up to your standard, Ma´am" Riley assured her, beaming.

"I expected nothing less of you, Sargeant- who took over for me?"

The two exchanged a glance with the commander who tightened his fingers around Wash´s.

"I haven´t replaced you yet, couldn´t bring myself to do it- you can just continue where you left off tomorrow morning, if you want to."

"In that case, tell the other´s I´m expecting everyone on the range at 0900 sharp."

"Yes, Ma´am."

Riley saluted, then hurried off, apparently determined to spread word about her CO´s return while Wash held Mark back.

"Are you on duty?"

"No, I´m off tonight."

"We are invited to dinner at the Shannon´s, I hear a certain young lady is doing the cooking, if you hurry you might get yourself an invitation, too."

Grinning broadly Mark hurried off in the direction of his girlfriend´s house while Wash and Taylor walked over to the barracks and entered Wash´s house, it was dinner time and they only met a few people on the way, everyone happy and excited to see Wash alive.

"It´ll take hours to get to the Shannon´s later" Taylor told her while closing the front door behind them, "once word has spread that you´re back, everyone will be outside waiting to see if it´s true."

"If it gets too bad we´ll call Shannon and Mark over to escort us."

She looked around, pleased to see that nothing had changed and that her home seemed to have been spared any damage in the attacks.

"Nathaniel, I-" He held up his hand.

"Not now, we´ll talk about it later."

She nodded her acceptance, she wasn´t in the mood to talk about all the things that were hanging between them, either, later would be enough time for that.


End file.
